BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

<• 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


t 


f,l?T°g!  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

I """~~""""~Z^!^       I 


V  cowboy  outlaw 
»vhose  youthful 

aring  has  never 
been  equalled  in 

he  annals  of 

riminal  history. 

^hen  a  bullet 
pierced  his  heart 
he  was  less  tha-i 
twenty-two  years 
of  age,  and  had 
killed  twenty-one 
men,  Indians  not 
included 


BY 

CHAS.  A.  SIRINGO 


PRfVATE  LIBRARY  O 

F.  T.  CHEETHAM 

TAOS,  NEW  MEXICO 


HISTORY  OF  " BILLY  THE   KID." 

The  true  life  of  the  most  daring  young 
outlaw  of  the  age. 

He  was  the  leading  spirit  in  the  bloody 
Lincoln  County,  New  Mexico,  war.  When 
a  bullet  from  Sheriff  Pat  Garett's  pistol 
pierced  his  breast  he  was  only  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  and  had  killed  twenty- 
one  men,  not  counting  Indians.  His  six 
years  of  daring  outlawry  has  never  been 
equalled  in  the  annals  of  criminal  his- 
tory. 

By  CHAS.  A.  SIRINGO. 

Author  of: 

"Fifteen  Years  on  the  Hurricane  Deck 
of  a  Spanish  Pony,"  "A  Cowboy 
Detective,"  and  "A  Lone  Star  Cow- 
boy." 


To  my  friend,  George  S.  Tweedy — an 
honest,  easy-going,  second  Abraham 
Lincoln;  this  little  volume  is  affection- 
ately dedicated  by  the  author, 

CHAS.  A.  SIRINGO. 


Copyrighted   1920,   by  Chas.   A.   Siringo. 
All  rights  reserved. 


INTRODUCTION 

The  author  feels  that  he  is  capable  of 
writing  a  true  and  unvarnished  history 
of  " Billy  the  Kid,"  as  he  was  person- 
ally acquainted  with  him,  and  assisted 
^  in  his  capture,  by  furnishing  Sheriff  Pat 
Garrett  with  three  of  his  fighting  cow- 
boys— Jas.  H.  East,  Lee  Hall  and  Lon 
Chambers. 

The  facts  set  down  in  this  narrative 
were  gotten  from  the  lips  of  "  Billy  the 
Kid,"  himself,  and  from  such  men  as 
Pat  Garrett,  John  W.  Poe,  Kip  McKin- 
nie,  Charlie  Wall,  the  Coe  brothers,  Tom 
O'Phalliard,  Henry  Brown,  John  Mid- 
dleton,  Martin  Chavez,  and  Ash  Upson. 
All  these  men  took  an  active  part,  for 
or  against,  the  "Kid."  Ash  Upson  had 
known  him  from  childhood,  and  was  con- 


sidered  one  of  the  family,  for  several 
years,  in  his  mother's  home. 

Other  facts  were  gained  from  the  lips 
of  Mrs.  Charlie  Bowdre,  who  kept  "Bil- 
ly the  Kid, ' 9  hid  out  at  her  home  in  Fort 
Simmer,  New  Mexico,  after  he  had  killed 
his  two  guards  and  escaped. 

CHAS.  A.  SIEINGO. 


CHAPTER  I. 

BILLY  BONNEY  KILLS  HIS  FIEST 
TWO  MEN,  AND  BECOMES  A 
DARING  OUTLAW  IN  THE  RE- 
PUBLIC OF  MEXICO. 

In  the  slum  district  of  the  great  city 
of  New  York,  on  the  23rd  day  of  Novem- 
ber, 1859,  a  blue-eyed  baby  boy  was  born 
to  William  H.  Bonney  and  his  good  look- 
ing, auburn  haired  young  wife,  Kathleen. 
Being  their  first  child  he  was  naturally 
the  joy  of  their  hearts.  Later,  another 
baby  boy  followed. 

In  1862  William  H.  Bonney  shook  the 
dust  of  New  York  City  from  his  shoes 
and  emigrated  to  Coffeeville,  Kansas, 
on  the  northern  border  of  the  Indian 
Territory,  with  his  little  family. 


6  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

Soon  after  settling  down  in  Coffee- 
ville,  Mr.  Bonney  died.  Then  the  young 
widow  moved  to  the  Territory  of  Colo- 
rado, where  she  married  a  Mr.  Antrim. 

Shortly  after  this  marriage,  the  little 
family  of  four  moved  to  Santa  Fe,  New 
Mexico,  at  the  end  of  the  old  Santa  Fe 
trail. 

Here  they  opened  a  restaurant,  and 
one  of  their  first  boarders  was  Ash  Up- 
son,  then  doing  work  on  the  Daily  New 
Mexican. 

Little,  blue-eyed,  Billy  Bonney,  was 
then  about  five  years  of  age,  and  be- 
came greatly  attached  to  good  natured, 
jovial,  Ash  Upson,  who  spent  much  of 
his  leisure  time  playing  with  the  bright 
boy. 

Three  years  later,  when  the  hero  of 
our  story  was  about  eight  years  old, 
Ash  Upson  and  the  Antrim  family  pulled 
up  stakes  and  moved  to  the  booming  sil- 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  7 

ver  mining  camp  of  Silver  City,  in  the 
southwestern  part  of  the  Territory  of 
New  Mexico. 

Here  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Antrim  established 
a  new  restaurant,  and  had  Ash  Upson 
as  the  star  boarder. 

Naturally  their  boarders  were  made 
up  of  all  classes,  both  women  and  men, 
— some  being  gamblers  and  toughs  of 
the  lowest  order. 

Amidst  these  surroundings,  Billy  Bon- 
ney  grew  up.  He  went  to  school  and 
was  a  bright  scholar.  When  not  at 
school,  Billy  was  associating  with  tough 
men  and  boys,  and  learning  the  art  of 
gambling  and  shooting. 

This  didn't  suit  Mr.  Antrim,  who  be- 
came a  cruel  step-father,  according  to 
Billy  Bonney's  way  of  thinking. 

Jesse  Evans,  a  little  older  than  Billy, 
was  a  young  tough  who  was  a  hero  in 
Billy's  estimation.  They  became  fast 


8  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

friends,  and  bosom  companions.  In  the 
years  to  come  they  were  to  fight  bloody 
battles  side  by  side,  as  friends,  and 
again  as  bitter  enemies. 

As  a  boy,  Mr.  Upson  says  Billy  had  a 
sunny  disposition,  but  when  aroused  had 
an  uncontrollable  temper. 

At  the  tender  age  of  twelve,  young 
Bonney  made  a  trip  to  Fort  Union,  New 
Mexico,  and  there  gambled  with  the 
negro  soldiers.  One  " black  nigger' 
cheated  Billy,  who  shot  him  dead.  This 
story  I  got  from  the  lips  of  "  Billy  the 
Kid"  in  1878. 

Making  his  way  back  to  Silver  City 
he  kept  the  secret  from  his  fond  mother, 
who  was  the  idol  of  his  heart. 

One  day  Billy's  mother  was  passir 
a  crowd  of  toughs  on  the  street.    One  of 
them  made  an  insulting  remark  about 
her.    Billy,  who  was  in  the  crowd,  heard 
it.  He  struck  the  fellow  in  the  face  with 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  9 

his  fist,  then  picked  up  a  rock  from  the 
street.  The  "tough"  made  a  rush  at 
Billy,  and  as  he  passed  Ed.  Moulton  he 
planted  a  blow  back  of  his  ear,  and  laid 
him  sprawling  on  the  ground. 

This  act  cemented  a  friendship  be- 
tween Ed.  Moulton  and  the  future  young 
outlaw. 

About  three  weeks  later  Ed.  Moulton 
got  into  a  fight  with  two  toughs  in  Joe 
Dyer's  saloon.  He  was  getting  the  best 
of  the  fight.  The  young  blacksmith  who 
had  insulted  Mrs.  Antrim  and  who  had 
been  knocked  down  by  Ed.  Moulton,  saw 
a  chance  for  revenge.  He  rushed  at 
Moulton  with  an  uplifted  chair.  Billy 
Bonney  was  standing  near  by,  on  nettles, 
ready  to  render  assistance  to  his  bene- 
factor, at  a  moment's  notice.  The  time 
had  now  arrived.  He  sprang  at  the 
blacksmith  and  stabbed  him  with  a  knife 
three  times.  He  fell  over  dead. 


10  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

Billy  ran  out  of  the  saloon,  his  right 
hand  dripping  with  human  blood. 

Now  to  his  dear  mother's  arms,  where 
he  showered  her  pale  cheeks  with  kisses 
for  the  last  time. 

Realizing  the  result  of  his  crime,  he 
was  soon  lost  in  the  pitchy  darkness  of 
the  night,  headed  towards  the  south- 
west, afoot.  For  three  days  and  nights 
Billy  wandered  through  the  cactus  cov- 
ered hills,  without  seeing  a  human  be- 
ing. 

Luck  finally  brought  him  to  a  sheep 
camp,  where  the  Mexican  herder  gave 
him  food. 

From  the  sheep  camp  he  went  to  Mc- 
Knight's  ranch  and  stole  a  horse,  riding 
away  without  a  saddle. 

Three  weeks  later  a  boy  and  a  grown 
man  rode  into  Camp  Bowie,  a  govern- 
ment post.  Both  were  on  a  skinny,  sore- 
back  pony.  This  new  found  companion 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  11 

had  a  name  and  history  of  his  own, 
which  he  was  nursing  in  secret.  He  gave 
his  name  to  Billy  as  " Alias,"  and  that 
was  the  name  he  was  known  by  around 
Camp  Bowie. 

Finally  Billy,  having  disposed  of  his 
sore-back  pony,  started  out  for  the 
Apache  Indian  Eeservation,  with 
"Alias,"  afoot.  They  were  armed  with 
an  old  army  rifle  and  a  six-shooter, 
which  they  had  borrowed  from  soldiers. 

About  ten  miles  southwest  of  Camp 
Bowie  these  two  young  desperados 
came  onto  three  Indians,  who  had  twelve 
ponies,  a  lot  of  pelts  and  several  saddles, 
besides  good  fire-arms,  and  blankets.  In 
telling  of  the  af fair .  afterwards,  Billy 
said:  "It  was  a  ground-hog  case.  Here 
were  twelve  good  ponies,  a  supply  of 
blankets,  and  five  heavy  loads  of  pelts. 
Here  were  three  blood-thirsty  savages 
revelling  in  luxury  and  refusing  help  to 


12  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

two  free-born,  white,  American  citizens, 
foot-sore  and  hungry.  The  plunder  had 
to  change  hands.  As  one  live  Indian 
could  place  a  hundred  United  States 
soldiers  on  our  trail,  the  decision  was 
made. 

"In  about  three  minutes  there  were 
three  dead  Indians  stretched  out  on  the 
ground,  and  with  their  ponies  and  plun- 
der we  skipped.  There  was  no  fight.  It 
was  the  softest  thing  I  ever  struck. 9 ' 

About  one  hundred  miles  from  this 
bloody  field  of  battle,  the  surplus  ponies 
and  plunder  were  sold  and  traded  off  to 
a  band  of  Texas  emigrants. 

Finally  the  two  young  brigands  set- 
tled down  in  Tucson,  where  Billy's  skill 
as  a  monte  dealer,  and  card  player  kept 
them  in  luxuriant  style,  and  gave  them 
prestige  among  the  sporting  fraternity. 

Becoming  tired  of  town  life,  the  two 
desperadoes  hit  the  trail  for  San  Simon, 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  13 

where  they  beat  a  band  of  Indians  out 
of  a  lot  of  money  in  a  "fake"  horse 
race. 

The  next  we  hear  of  Billy  Bonney  is 
in  the  State  of  Sonora,  Old  Mexico, 
where  he  went  alone,  according  to  his 
own  statement. 

In  Sonora  he  joined  issues  with  a  Mex- 
ican gambler  named  Melquiades  Segura. 
One  night  the  two  murdered  a  monte 
dealer,  Don  Jose  Martinez,  and  secured 
his  "bank  roll." 

Now  the  two  desperadoes  shook  the 
dust  of  Sonora  from  their  feet  and  land- 
ed in  the  city  of  Chihuahua,  the  capital 
of  the  State  of  Chihuahua,  several  hun- 
dred miles  to  the  eastward,  across  the 
Sierra  Madres  mountains. 


14  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

CHAPTER  II. 

A  FIERCE  BATTLE  WITH  APACHE 
INDIANS.  SINGLE  HANDED 
BILLY  BONNEY  LIBERATES 
SEGURA  FROM  JAIL. 

In  the  city  of  Chihuahua,  the  two  des- 
peradoes led  a  hurrah  life  among  the 
sporting  elements.  Finally  their  money 
was  gone  and  their  luck  at  cards  went 
against  them.  Then  Billy  and  Segura 
held  up  and  robbed  several  monte  deal- 
ers, when  on  the  way  home  after  their 
games  had  closed  for  the  night.  One 
of  these  monte  dealers  had  offended 
Billy,  which  caused  his  death. 

One  morning  before  the  break  of  day, 
this  monte  dealer  was  on  his  way  home ; 
a  peon  was  carrying  his  fat  "bank  roll" 
in  a  buckskin  bag,  finely  decorated  with 
gold  and  silver  threads. 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  15 

When  nearing  his  residence  in  the 
outskirts  of  the  city,  Segura  and  young 
Bonney  made  a  charge  from  behind  a 
vacant  adobe  building.  The  one-sided 
battle  was  soon  over.  A  popular  Mexi- 
can gambler  lay  stretched  dead  on  the 
ground.  The  peon  willingly  gave  up  the 
sack  of  gold  and  silver. 

Now  towards  the  Texas  border,  in  a 
north-easterly  direction,  a  distance  of 
three  hundred  miles,  as  fast  as  their 
mounts  could  carry  them. 

When  their  horses  began  to  grow 
tired,  other  mounts  were  secured.  Their 
bills  were  paid  enroute,  with  gold  doub- 
loons taken  from  the  buckskin  sack. 

On  reaching  the  Bio  Grande  river, 
which  separates  Texas  from  the  Repub- 
lic of  Mexico,  the  young  outlaws  separ- 
ated for  the  time  being. 

"  Billy  Bonney  finally  met  up  with  his 
Silver  City  chum,  Jesse  Evans,  and  they 


16  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

became  partners  in  crime,  in  the  border- 
ing state  of  Texas,  and  the  Territories 
of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona.  Many  rob- 
beries and  some  murders  were  commit- 
ted by  these  smooth-faced  boys,  and  they 
had  many  narrow  escapes  from  death, 
or  capture.  Fresh  horses  were  always 
at  their  command,  as  they  were  experts 
with  the  lasso,  and  the  scattering  ranch- 
men all  had  bands  of  ponies  on  the 
range. 

On  one  occasion  the  boys  ate  dinner 
with  a  party  of  Texas  emigrants,  and 
were  well  treated.  Leaving  the  emi- 
grant camp,  a  band  of  renegade  Apache 
Indians  were  seen  skulking  in  the  hills. 
The  boys  concealed  themselves  to  await 
results,  as  they  felt  sure  a  raid  was  to 
be  made  on  the  emigrants,  who  were 
headed  for  the  Territory  of  Arizona. 
There  were  only  three  men  in  the  party, 
and  several  women  and  children. 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  17 

Just  at  dusk,  the  boys,  who  were  steal- 
ing along  their  trail  in  the  low,  flint  cov- 
ered hills,  heard  shooting. 

Eealizing  that  a  battle  was  on,  Billy 
Bonney  and  Jesse  Evans  put  spurs  to 
their  mounts  and  reached  the  camp  just 
in  time. 

By  this  time  it  was  dark.  The  three 
men  had  succeeded  in  standing  off  the 
Indians  for  awhile,  but  finally  a  rush 
was  made  on  the  camp,  by  the  reds,  with 
blood  curdling  war  whoops. 

At  that  moment  the  two  young  heroes 
charged  among  the  Indians  and  sprang 
off  their  horses,  with  Winchester  rifles 
in  hand. 

For  a  few  moments  the  battle  raged. 
One  bullet  shattered  the  stock  of  Billy's 
rifle,  clipping  his  left  hand  slightly.  He 
then  dropped  the  rifle  and  used  his  pis- 
tol. 

When  the  battle  was  over,  eight  dead 


18  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

Indians  lay  on  the  ground. 

The  emigrants  had  shielded  them- 
selves by  getting  behind  the  wagons. 
Two  of  the  men  were  slightly  wounded, 
and  the  other  dangerously  shot  through 
the  stomach.  One  little  girl  had  a  frac- 
tured skull  from  a  blow  on  the  head  with 
a  rifle.  The  mother  of  the  child  fainted 
on  seeing  her  daughter  fall. 

In  telling  of  this  battle,  Billy  Bonney 
said  the  war-whoops  shouted  by  himself 
and  Jesse,  as  they  charged  into  the  band 
of  Indians,  helped  to  win  the  battle.  He 
said  a  bullet  knocked  the  heel  off  one  of 
his  boots,  and  that  Jesse's  hat  was  shot 
off  his  head.  He  felt  sure  that  the  man 
shot  through  the  stomach  died,  though 
he  never  heard  of  the  party  after  separ- 
ating. 

Soon  after  the  Indian  battle  Billy 
Bonney  and  Jesse  Evans  landed  in  the 
Mexican  village  of  La  Mesilla,  New  Mex- 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  19 

ico,  and  there  met  up  with  some  of 
Jesse's  chums.  Their  names  were  Jim 
McDaniels,  Bill  Morton,  and  Frank  Bak- 
er. 

During  their  stay  in  Mesilla,  Jim  Mc- 
Daniels christened  Billy  Bonney,  "  Billy 
the  Kid,"  and  that  name  stuck  to  him 
to  the  time  of  his  death. 

Finally  these  three  tough  cowboys 
started  for  the  Pecos  river  with  Jesse 
Evans.  " Billy  the  Kid"  promised  to 
join  them  later,  as  he  had  received  word 
that  his  Old  Mexico  chum,  Segura,  was 
in  jail  in  San  Elizario,  Texas,  below  El 
Paso.  This  word  had  been  brought  by 
a  Mexican  boy,  sent  by  Segura. 

The  "Kid"  told  the  boy  to  wait  in 
Mesilla  till  he  and  Segura  got  there. 

It  was  the  fall  of  1876.  Mounted  on 
his  favorite  gray  horse,  "Billy  the  Kid" 
started  at  six  o'clock  in  the  evening  for 
the  eighty-one  mile  ride  to  San  Elizario. 


20  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

A  swift  ride  brought  him  into  El  Paso, 
then  called  Franklin,  a  distance  of  fifty- 
six  miles,  before  midnight.  Here  he 
dismounted  in  front  of  Peter  Den's  sa- 
loon to  let  his  noble  "Gray"  rest.  While 
waiting,  he  had  a  few  drinks  of  whiskey, 
and  fed  "Gray"  some  crackers,  there 
being  no  horse  feed  at  the  saloon. 

Now  for  the  twenty-five  mile  dash 
down  the  Rio  Grande  river,  over  a  level 
road  to  San  Elizario.  It  was  made  in 
quick  time.  Daylight  had  not  yet  begun 
to  break. 

Dismounting  in  front  of  the  jail,  the 
"Kid"  knocked  on  the  front  door.  The 
Mexican  jailer  asked;  "Quien  es?" 
(Who's  that?) 

The  "Kid"  replied  in  good  Spanish: 
"Open  up,  we  have  two  American  pris- 
oners here." 

The  heavy  front  door  was  opened,  an^ 
the  jailer  found  a  cocked  pistol  pointed 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  21 

at  him.  Now  the  frightened  guard  gave 
up  his  pistol  and  the  keys  to  the  cell  in 
which  Segura  was  shackled  and  hand- 
cuffed. 

In  the  rear  of  the  jail  building  there 
was  another  guard  asleep.  He  was  re- 
lieved of  his  fire-arms  and  dagger. 

When  Segura  was  free  of  irons  the 
two  guards  were  gagged  so  they  couldn't 
give  an  alarm,  and  chained  to  a  post. 

The  two  outlaws  started  out  in  the 
darkest  part  of  the  night,  just  before 
day,  Segura  on  "Gray"  and  the  "Kid" 
trotting  by  his  side,  afoot. 

An  hour  later  the  two  desperadoes 
were  at  a  confederate's  ranch  across  the 
Rio  Grande  river,  in  Old  Mexico. 

After  filling  up  with  a  hot  breakfast, 
the  "Kid"  was  soon  asleep,  while  Se- 
gura kept  watch  for  officers.  The 
"Kid's"  noble  "Gray"  was  fed  and 


22  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

with  a  mustang,  kept  hidden  out  in  the 
brush. 

Now  the  ranchman  rode  into  San  Eliz- 
ario  to  post  himself  on  the  jail  break. 

Hurrying  back  to  the  ranch,  he  ad- 
vised his  two  guests  to  "hit  the  high 
places,"  as  there  was  great  excitement 
in  San  Elizario. 

Reaching  La  Mesilla,  New  Mexico,  the 
two  young  outlaws  found  the  boy  who 
had  carried  the  message  to  "Billy  the 
Kid,"  from  Segura,  and  rewarded  him 
with  a  handful  of  Mexican  gold. 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  23 

CHAPTEE  in. 

" BILLY  THE  KID"  AND  SEGURA 
MAKE  SUCCESSFUL  ROB- 
BERY RAIDS  INTO  MEXICO.  A 
BATTLE  WITH  INDIANS.  THE 
"KID"  JOINS  HIS  CHUM, 
JESSE  EVANS. 

After  a  few  daring  raids  into  Old 
Mexico,  with  Segura,  the  "Kid"  landed 
in  La  Mesilla,  New  Mexico. 

Here  he  fell  in  with  a  wild  young  man 
by  the  name  of  Tom  O'Keefe.  Together, 
they  started  for  the  Pecos  river  to  meet 
Jesse  Evans  and  his  companions. 

Instead  of  taking  the  wagon  road,  the 
two  venturesome  boys  cut  across  the 
Mescalero  Apache  Indina  Reservation, 
which  took  in  most  of  the  high  Guada- 
lupe  range  of  mountains,  which  separ- 
ates the  Pecos  and  Rio  Grande  rivers. 


24  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

First  they  rode  into  El  Paso,  Texas, 
and  loaded  a  pack  mule  with  provisions. 

A  few  days  out  of  El  Paso,  the  boys 
ran  out  of  water,  and  were  puzzled  as 
to  which  way  to  ride. 

Finally  a  fresh  Indian  trail  was 
found,  evidently  leading  to  water.  It  was 
followed  to  the  mouth  of  a  deep  canyon. 
For  fear  of  running  into  a  trap,  the 
" Kid"  decided  to  take  the  canteen  and 
go  afoot,  leaving  his  mount  and  the  pack 
mule  with  O'Keefe,  who  was  instructed 
to  come  to  his  rescue  should  he  hear  yell- 
ing and  shooting. 

A  mile  of  cautious  traveling  brought 
the  "Kid"  to  a  cool  spring  of  water. 
The  ground  was  tramped  hard  with 
fresh  pony  and  Indian  tracks. 

After  filling  the  canteen,  and  drinking 
all  the  water  he  could  hold,  the  "Kid" 
started  down  the  canyon  to  join  his  com- 
panion. 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  25 

He  hadn't  gone  far  when  Indians, 
afoot,  began  pouring  out  of  the  cliff  to 
the  right,  which  cut  off  his  retreat  down 
the  canyon.  There  was  nothing  to  do 
but  return  towards  the  spring,  as  fast 
as  his  legs  could  carry  him. 

The  twenty  half-naked  braves  were 
gaining  on  him,  and  shouting  blood-curd- 
ling war-whoops. 

Like  a  pursued  mountain  lion,  the 
"Kid"  sprang  into  the  jungles  of  a 
steep  cliff.  Foot  by  foot  his  way  was 
made  to  a  place  of  concealment. 

The  Indians  seeing  him  leave  the  trail, 
scrambled  up  into  the  bushy  cliff.  Now 
the  "Kid's"  trusty  pistol  began  to  talk, 
and  several  young  braves,  who  were 
leading  the  chase  passed  to  the  "happy 
hunting  ground."  The  "Kid"  said  the 
body  of  one  young  buck  went  down  the 
cliff  and  caught  on  the  over-hanging 


26  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

limb  of  a  dead  tree,  and  there  hung  sus- 
pended in  plain  view. 

Many  shots  were  fired  at  the  "Kid" 
when  he  sprang  from  one  hiding  place 
to  another.  One  bullet  struck  a  rock 
near  his  head,  and  the  splinters  gave 
him  slight  wounds  on  the  face  and  neck. 

Beaching  the  extreme  top  of  a  high 
peak,  the  young  outlaw  felt  safe,  as  he 
could  see  no  reds  on  his  trail.  Being  ex- 
hausted he  soon  fell  asleep.  On  hearing 
the  yelling  and  shooting,  Tom  O'Keefe 
stampeded,  leaving  the  "Kid's"  mount 
and  the  pack  mule  where  they  stood. 

Reaching  a  high  bluff,  which  was  im- 
possible for  a  horse  to  climb,  O'Keefe 
quit  his  mount  and  took  it  afoot.  From 
cliff  to  cliff,  he  made  his  way  towards 
the  top  of  a  peak.  Finally  his  keen  eye- 
sight caught  the  figure  of  a  man,  far 
away  across  a  deep  canyon,  trying  to 
reach  the  top  of  a  mountain  peak.  He 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  27 

surmised  that  the  bold  climber  must  be 
the  "Kid." 

At  last  young  O'Keefe's  strength 
gave  out  and  he  lay  down  to  sleep.  His 
hands  and  limbs  were  bleeding  from  the 
scratches  received  from  sharp  rocks, 
and  he  was  craving  water. 

Being  refreshed  from  his  long  night's 
sleep,  the  "Kid"  headed  for  the  big  red 
sun,  which  was  just  creeping  up  out  of 
the  great  "Llano  Estacado,"  (Staked 
Plains),  over  a  hundred  miles  to  the 
eastward,  across  the  Pecos  river. 

Finally  water  was  struck  and  he  was 
happy.  Then  he  filled  up  on  wild  ber- 
ries, which  were  plentiful  along  the  bor- 
ders of  the  small  sparkling  stream  of 
water. 

Three  days  later  the  young  hero  out- 
law reached  a  cow-camp  on  the  Eio 
Pecos.  He  made  himself  known  to  the 
cowboys,  who  gave  him  a  good  horse  to 


28  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

ride,  and  conducted  him  to  the  Murphy- 
Dolan  cow-camp,  where  his  chum,  Jesse 
Evans,  was  employed.  In  this  camp  the 
"Kid"  also  met  his  former  friends,  Mc- 
Daniels,  Baker,  and  Morton. 

Here  the  "Kid"  was  told  of  the 
smouldering  cattle  war  between  the 
Murphy-Dolan  faction  on  one  side,  and 
the  cattle  king,  John  S.  Chisum,  on  the 
other. 

Many  small  cattle  owners  were  ar- 
rayed with  the  firm  of  Murphy  and 
Dolan,  who  owned  a  large  store  in  Lin- 
coln, and  were  the  owners  of  many  cat- 
tle. 

On  John  S.  Chisum  Js  side  were  Alex 
A.  McSween,  a  prominent  lawyer  of 
Lincoln  —  the  County  seat  of  Lincoln 
County — and  a  wealthy  Englishman  by 
the  name  of  John  S.  Tuns  tall,  who  had 
only  been  in  America  a  year. 

McSween  and  Tunstall  had  formed  a 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  29 

co-partnership  in  the  cattle  business, 
and  had  established  a  general  trading 
store  in  Lincoln. 

It  was  now  the  early  spring  of  1877. 
Jesse  Evans  tried  to  persuade  "  Billy 
the  Kid"  to  join  the  Murphy-Dolan  fac- 
tion, but  he  argued  that  he  first  had  to 
find  Tom  O'Keefe,  dead  or  alive,  as  it 
was  against  his  principles  to  desert  a 
chum  in  time  of  danger. 

For  nearly  a  year  a  storm  had  been 
brewing  between  John  Chisum  and  the 
smaller  ranchmen.  Chisum  claimed  all 
the  range  in  the  Pecos  valley,  from  Fort 
Sumner  to  the  Texas  line,  a  distance  of 
over  two  hundred  miles. 

Naturally  there  was  much  maverick- 
ing,  in  other  words,  stealing  unbranderl 
young  animals  from  the  Chisum  bands 
of  cattle,  which  ranged  about  twenty- 
five  miles  on  each  side  of  the  Pecos  riv- 
er. 


30  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

Chisum  owned  from  forty  to  sixty 
thousand  cattle  on  this  "  Jingle-bob " 
range.  His  cattle  were  marked  with  a 
long  "  Jingle-bob "  hanging  down  from 
the  dew-lap.  In  branding  calves  the 
Chisum  cowboys  would  slash  the  dew- 
lap above  the  breast,  leaving  a  chunk  of 
hide  and  flesh  hanging  downward.  When 
the  wound  healed  the  animal  was  well 
marked  with  a  dangling  "  Jingle-bob. " 
Thus  did  the  Chisum  outfit  get  the  name 
of  the  " Jingle-bobs." 

Well  mounted  and  armed,  "Billy  the 
Kid"  started  in  search  of  Tom  O'Keefe. 
He  was  found  at  Las  Cruces,  three  miles 
from  La  Mesilla,  the  County  seat  of 
Dona  Ana  County,  New  Mexico.  It  was 
a  happy  meeting  between  the  two 
smooth-faced  boys.  Each  had  to  relate 
his  experience  during  and  after  the  In- 
dian trouble. 

O'Keefe  had  gone  back  to  the   place 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  31 

where  he  had  left  the  "Kid's"  mount 
and  the  pack  mule.  There  he  found  the 
" Bid's"  horse  shot  dead,  but  no  sign 
of  the  mule.  His  own  pony  ran  away 
with  the  saddle,  when  he  sprang  from 
his  back. 

Now  O'Keefe  struck  out  afoot,  to- 
wards the  west,  living  on  berries  and 
such  game  as  he  could  kill,  finally  land- 
ing in  Las  Cruces,  where  he  swore  off 
being  the  companion  of  a  daring  young 
outlaw. 

" Billy  the  Kid"  tried  to  persuade 
O'Keefe  to  accompany  him  back  to  the 
Pecos  valley,  to  take  part  in  the  ap- 
proaching cattle  war,  but  Tom  said 
he  had  had  enough  of  playing  "bad-man 
from  Bitter  Creek." 

Now  the  "Kid"  went  to  a  ranch, 
where  he  had  left  his  noble  "Gray,"  and 
with  him  started  back  towards  the  Pecos 
river. 


32  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

CHAPTEE  IV. 

THE  STARTING  OF  THE  BLOODY 
LINCOLN  COUNTY  WAR.  THE 
MURDER  OF  TUNSTALL.  "BIL- 
LY THE  KID"  IS  PARTIALLY 
REVENGED  WHEN  HE  KILLS 
MORTON  AND  BAKER. 

Arriving  back  at  the  Murphy-Dolan 
cow-camp  on  the  Pecos  river,  "Billy  the 
Kid"  was  greeted  by  his  friends,  Mc- 
Daniels,  Morton  and  Baker,  who  persu- 
aded him  to  join  the  Murphy  and  Dolan 
outfit,  and  become  one  of  their  fighting 
cowboys.  This  he  agreed  to  do,  and  was 
put  on  the  pay-roll  at  good  wages. 

The  summer  and  fall  of  1877  passed 
along  with  only  now  and  then  a  scrap 
between  the  factions.  But  the  clouds  of 
war  were  lowering,  and  the  "Kid"  was 
anxious  for  a  battle. 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  33 

Still  he  was  not  satisfied  to  be  at  war 
with  the  whole-souled  young  English- 
man, John  S.  Tunstull,  whom  he  had  met 
on  several  occasions. 

On  one  of  his  trips  to  the  Mexican 
town  of  Lincoln,  to  "blow  in"  his  accu- 
mulated wages,  the  "Bad"  met  Tunstall, 
and  expressed  regret  at  fighting  against 
him. 

The  matter  was  talked  over  and  "Bil- 
ly the  Kid"  agreed  to  switch  over  from 
the  Murphy-Dolan  faction.  Tunstall  at 
once  put  him  under  wages  and  told  him 
to  make  his  headquarters  at  their  cow- 
camp  on  the  Rio  Feliz,  which  flowed  in- 
to the  Pecos  from  the  west. 

Now  the  "Kid"  rode  back  to  camp 
and  told  the  dozen  cowboys  there  of  his 
new  deal.  They  tried  to  persuade  him 
of  his  mistake,  but  his  mind  was  made 
up  and  couldn't  be  changed. 

In  the  argument,  Baker  abused  the 


34  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

"Kid"  for  going  back  on  his  friends. 
This  came  very  near  starting  a  little 
war  in  that  camp.  The  "Kid"  made 
Baker  back  down  when  he  offered  to 
shoot  it  out  with  him  on  the  square. 

Before  riding  away  on  his  faithful 
"Gray,"  the  "Kid"  expressed  regrets 
at  having  to  fight  against  his  chum 
Jesse  Evans,  in  the  future. 

At  the  Rio  Feliz  cow  camp,  the  "Kid" 
made  friends  with  all  the  cowboys  there, 
and  with  Tunstall  and  McSween,  when 
he  rode  into  Lincoln  to  have  a  good  time 
at  the  Mexican  "fandangos"  (dances.) 

A  few  "killings"  took  place  on  the 
Pecos  river  during  the  fall,  but  "Billy 
the  Kid"  was  not  in  these  fights. 

In  the  early  part  of  December,  1877, 
the  "Kid"  received  a  letter  from  his 
Mexican  chum  whom  he  had  liberated 
from  the  jail  in  San  Elizario,  Texas, 
Melquiades  Segura,  asking  that  he  meet 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  35 

him  at  their  friend's  ranch  across  the 
Rio  Grande  river,  in  Old  Mexico,  on  a 
matter  of  great  importance. 

Mounted  on  "Gray,"  the  "Kid" 
started.  Meeting  Segura,  he  found  that 
all  he  wanted  was  to  share  a  bag  of 
Mexican  gold  with  him. 

While  visiting  Segura,  a  war  started 
in  San  Elizario  over  the  Guadalupe  Salt 
Lakes,  in  El  Paso  County,  Texas. 

These  Salt  Lakes  had  supplied  the 
natives  along  the  Rio  Grande  river  with 
free  salt  for  more  than  a  hundred  years. 
An  American  by  the  name  of  Howard, 
had  leased  them  from  the  State  of  Tex- 
as, and  prohibited  the  people  from  tak- 
ing salt  from  them. 

A  prominent  man  by  the  name  of 
Louis  Cardis,  took  up  the  fight  for  the 
people.  Howard  and  his  men  were  cap- 
tured and  alowed  their  liberty  under 


36  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

the  promise  that  they  would  leave  the 
Salt  Lakes  free  for  the  people's  use. 

Soon  after,  Howard  killed  Louis  Card- 
is  in  El  Paso.  This  worked  the  natives 
up  to  a  high  pitch. 

Under  the  protection  of  a  band  of 
Texas  Rangers,  Howard  returned  to  San 
Elizario,  twenty-five  miles  below  El 
Paso. 

On  reaching  San  Elizario  the  citizens 
turned  out  in  mass  and  besieged  the 
Eangers  and  the  Howard  crowd,  in  a 
house. 

Many  citizens  of  Old  Mexico,  across 
the  river,  joined  the  mob.  Among  them 
being  Segura  and  his  confederate,  at 
whose  ranch  " Billy  the  Kid"  and  Se- 
gura were  stopping. 

As  " Billy  the  Kid"  had  no  interest 
in  the  fight,  he  took  no  part,  but  was 
an  eye  witness  to  it,  in  the  village  of  San 
Elizario. 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  37 

Near  the  house  in  which  Howard  and 
the  Rangers  took  refuge,  lived  Captain 
Gregario  Garcia,  and  his  three  sons, 
Carlos,  Secundio,  and  Nazean-ceno  Gar- 
cia. On  the  roof  of  their  dwelling  they 
constructed  a  fort,  and  with  rifles,  as- 
sisted in  protecting  Howard  and  the 
Rangers  from  the  mob. 

The  fight  continued  for  several  days. 
Finally,  against  the  advice  of  Captain 
Gregario  Garcia,  the  Rangers  surren- 
dered. They  were  escorted  up  the  river 
towards  El  Paso,  and  liberated.  How- 
ard, Charlie  Ellis,  John  Atkinson,  and 
perhaps  one  or  two  other  Americans, 
were  taken  out  and  shot  dead  by  the 
mob.  Thus  ended  one  of  the  bloody  bat- 
tles which  " Billy  the  Kid"  enjoyed  as  a 
witness. 

The  following  year  the  present  Gov- 
ernor of  New  Mexico,  Octaviano  A.  Lar- 
razolo,  settled  in  San  Elizario,  Texas, 


38  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

and  married  the  pretty  daughter  of  Car- 
los Garcia,  who,  with  his  father  and  two 
brothers,  so  nobly  defended  Howard  and 
the  Bangers. 

Now  "Billy  the  Kid,"  with  his  pock- 
ets bulging  with  Mexican  gold,  given  him 
by  Segura,  returned  to  the  Tunstall-Mc- 
Sween  cow  camp,  on  the  Eio  Feliz,  in 
Lincoln  County,  New  Mexico. 

In  the  month  of  February,  1878,  W. 
S.  Morton,  who  held  a  commission  as 
deputy  sheriff,  raised  a  posse  of  fight- 
ing cowboys  and  went  to  one  of  the 
Tunstall  cow-camps  on  the  upper  Kuido- 
so  river,  to  attach  some  horses,  which 
were  claimed  by  the  Murphy-Dolan  out- 
fit. 

Tunstall  was  at  the  camp  with  some 
of  his  employes,  who  "hid  out"  on  the 
approach  of  Morton  and  the  posse. 

It  was  claimed  by  Morton  that  Tun- 
stall fired  the  first  shot,  but  that  story 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  39 

was  not  believed  by  the  opposition. 

In  the  fight,  Tunstall  and  his  mount 
were  killed.  While  laying  on  his  face 
gasping  for  breath,  Tom  Hill,  who  was 
later  killed  while  robbing  a  sheep  camp, 
placed  a  rifle  to  the  back  of  his  head 
and  blew  out  his  brains. 

This  murder  took  place  on  the  18th 
day  of  February,  1878. 

Before  sunset  a  runner  carried  the 
news  to  " Billy  the  Kid,"  on  the  Eio 
Feliz.  His  anger  was  at  the  boiling 
point  on  hearing  of  the  foul  murder.  He 
at  once  saddled  his  horse  and  started  to 
Lincoln,  to  consult  with  Lawyer  Mc- 
Sween. 

Now  the  Lincoln  County  war  was  on 
with  a  vengeance  and  hatred,  and  the 
"Kid"  was  to  play  a  leading  hand  in  it. 
He  swore  that  he  would  kill  every  man 
who  took  part  in  the  murder  of  his 
friend  Tunstall. 


40  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

At  that  time,  Lincoln  County,  New 
Mexico,  was  the  size  of  some  states, 
about  two  hundred  miles  square,  and 
only  a  few  thousand  inhabitants,  mostly 
Mexicans,  scattered  over  its  surface. 

On  reaching  the  town  of  Lincoln,  the 
"Kid"  was  informed  by  McSween  that 
R.  M.  Bruer  had  been  sworn  in  as  a 
special  constable,  and  was  making  up  a 
posse  to  arrest  the  murderers  of  Tun- 
stall. 

"Billy  the  Kid"  joined  the  Bruer 
posse,  and  they  started  for  the  Rio 
Pecos  river. 

On  the  6th  day  of  March,  the  Bruer 
posse  ran  onto  five  mounted  men  at  the 
lower  crossing  of  the  Rio  Penasco,  six 
miles  from  the  Pecos  river.  They  fled 
and  were  pursued  by  Bruer  and  his 
crowd. 

Two  of  the  fleeing  cowboys  separated 
from  their  companions.  The  "Kid"  rec- 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  41 

ognized  them  as  Morton  and  Baker,  his 
former  friends.  He  dashed  after  them, 
and  the  rest  of  the  posse  followed  his 
lead. 

Shots  were  being  fired  back  and  forth. 
At  last  Morton's  and  Baker's  mounts 
fell  over  dead.  The  two  men  then 
crawled  into  a  sink-hole  to  shield  their 
bodies  from  the  bullets. 

A  parley  was  held,  and  the  two  men 
surrendered,  after  Bruer  had  promised 
them  protection.  The  "Kid"  protested 
against  giving  this  pledge.  He  remark- 
ed: "My  time  will  come." 

Now  the  posse  started  for  the  Chisum 
home  ranch,  on  South  Spring  river,  with 
the  two  handcuffed  prisoners. 

On  the  morning  of  the  9th  day  of 
March,  the  Bruer  posse  started  with  the 
prisoners  for  Lincoln,  but  pretended  to 
be  headed  for  Fort  Stunner. 

The  posse  was  made  up  of  the  follow- 


42  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

ing  men:  B.  M.  Bruer,  J.  G.  Skurlock, 
Charlie  Bowdre,  " Billy  the  Kid,"  Hen- 
ry Brown,  Frank  McNab,  Fred  Wayt, 
Sam  Smith,  Jim  French,  John  Middle- 
ton  and  McClosky. 

After  traveling  five  miles  they  came 
to  the  little  village  of  Eoswell.  Here 
they  stopped  to  allow  Morton  time  to 
write  a  letter  to  his  cousin,  the  Hon.  H. 
H.  Marshall,  of  Eichmond,  Virginia. 

Ash  Upson  was  the  postmaster  in 
Roswell,  and  Morton  asked  him  to  notify 
his  cousin  in  Virginia  ,if  the  posse  failed 
to  keep  their  pledge  of  protection. 

McClosky,  who  was  standing  near,  re- 
marked: "If  harm  comes  to  you  two, 
they  will  have  to  kill  me  first. ' ' 

The  party  started  out  about  10  A.  M. 
from  Eoswell.  About  4  P.  M.,  Martin 
Chavez  of  Picacho,  arrived  in  Eoswell 
and  reported  to  Ash  Upson  that  the 
posse  and  their  prisoners  had  quit  tl 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  43 

main  road  to  Lincoln  and  had  turned  off 
in  the  direction  of  Agua  Negra,  an  un- 
frequented watering  place.  This  move 
satisfied  the  postmaster  that  the  doom 
of  Morton  and  Baker  was  sealed. 

On  March  the  eleventh,  Frank  McNab, 
one  of  the  Bruer  posse,  rode  up  to  the 
post-office  and  dismounted.  Mr.  Upson 
expressed  surprise  and  told  him  that  he 
supposed  he  was  in  Lincoln  by  this  time. 
Now  McNab  confessed  that  Morton, 
Baker  and  McClosky  were  dead. 

Later,  Ash  Upson  got  the  particulars 
from  "  Billy  the  Kid "  of  the  killing. 

The  "Bad"  and  Charlie  Bowdre  were 
riding  in  the  lead  as  they  neared  Black- 
water  Spring.  McClosky  and  Middleton 
rode  by  the  side  of  the  two  prisoners. 
The  balance  of  the  posse  followed  be- 
hind. 

Finally  Brown  and  McNab  spurred 
up  their  horses  and  rode  up  to  Me- 


44  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

Closky  and  Middleton.  McNab  shoved 
a  cocked  pistol  at  McClosky's  head  say- 
ing: "You  are  the  s — of  a  b —  that's 
got  to  die  before  harm  can  come  to  these 
fellows,  are  you?" 

Now  the  trigger  was  pulled  and  Mc- 
Closky  fell  from  his  horse,  dead,  shot 
through  the  head. 

"Billy  the  Kid"  heard  the  shot  and 
wheeled  his  horse  around  in  time  to  see 
the  two  prisoners  dashing  away  on  their 
mounts.  The  "Kid"  fired  twice  and 
Morton  and  Baker  fell  from  their  horses, 
dead.  No  doubt  it  was  a  put  up  job  to 
allow  the  "Kid"  to  kill  the  murderers 
of  his  friend  Tunstall,  with  his  own 
hands. 

The  posse  rode  on  to  Lincoln,  all  but 
McNab,  who  returned  to  Roswell.  The 
bodies  of  McClosky,  Morton  and  Baker 
were  left  where  they  fell.  Later  they 
were  buried  by  some  sheep  herders. 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  45 

Thus  ends  the  first  chapter  of  the 
bloody  Lincoln  County  war. 

CHAPTEE  V. 

THE  MUEDEE  OF  SHEEIFF  BEA- 
DY AND  HIS  DEPUTY,  HIND- 
MAN,  BY  THE  "KID"  AND  HIS 
BAND.  "  BILLY  THE  KID" 
AND  JESSE  EVANS  MEET  AS 
ENEMIES  AND  PAET  AS 
FEIENDS. 

On  returning  to  Lincoln,  "Billy  the 
Kid"  had  many  consultations  with  Law- 
yer McSween  about  the  murder  of  Tun- 
stall.  It  was  agreed  to  never  let  up  un- 
til all  the  murderers  were  in  their 
graves. 

The  "Kid"  heard  that  one  of  Tun- 
stall's  murderers  was  seen  around  Dr. 
Blazer's  saw  mill,  near  the  Mescalero 


46  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

Apache  Indian  Reservation,  on  South 
Fork,  about  forty  miles  from  Lincoln. 
He  at  once  notified  Officer  Dick  Bruer, 
who  made  up  a  posse  to  search  for  Rob- 
erts, an  ex-soldier,  a  fine  rider,  and  a 
dead  shot. 

As  the  posse  rode  up  to  Blazer's  saw 
mill  from  the  east,  Roberts  came  gallop- 
ing up  from  the  west.  The  "Kid"  put 
spurs  to  his  horse  and  made  a  dash  at 
him.  Both  had  pulled  their  Winchester 
rifles  from  the  scabbards.  Both  men 
fired  at  the  same  time,  Robert's  bullet 
went  whizzing  past  the  "Kid's"  ear, 
while  the  one  from  "Billy  the  Kid's" 
rifle,  found  lodgment  in  Robert's  body. 
It  was  a  death  wound,  but  gave  Roberts 
time  to  prove  his  bravery,  and  fine 
marksmanship. 

He  fell  from  his  mount  and  found  con- 
cealment in  an  outhouse,  from  where  he 
fought  his  last  battle. 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  47 

The  posse  men  dismounted  and 
found  concealment  behind  the  many 
large  saw  logs,  scattered  over  the 
ground. 

For  a  short  time  the  battle  raged, 
while  the  lifeblood  was  fast  flowing 
from  Robert's  wound.  One  of  his  bul- 
lets struck  Charlie  Bowdre,  giving  him 
a  serious  wound.  Another  bullet  cut  off 
a  finger  from  George  Coe's  hand.  Still 
another  went  crashing  through  Dick 
Bruer's  head,  as  he  peeped  over  a  log 
to  get  a  shot  at  Roberts;  Bruer  fell 
over  dead.  This  was  Robert's  last  shot, 
as  he  soon  expired  from  the  wound  "Bil- 
ly the  Kid"  had  given  him. 

A  grave  yard  was  now  started  on  a 
round  hill  near  the  Blazer  saw  mill,  and 
in  later  years,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  George  Nes- 
beth,  a  little  girl,  and  a  strange  man, 
who  had  died  with  their  boots  on — being 


48  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

fouly  murdered — were  buried  in  this 
miniature  "Boot  Hill"  cemetery. 

Two  of  the  participants  in  the  battle 
at  Blazer's  saw  mill,  Frank  and  George 
Coe,  are  still  alive,  being  highly  respect- 
ed ranchmen  on  the  Euidoso  river, 
where  both  have  raised  large  families. 

After  the  battle  at  Blazer's  mill,  the 
Coe  brothers  joined  issues  with  "Billy 
the  Kid"  and  fought  other  battles 
against  the  Murphy-Dolan  faction.  In 
one  battle  Frank  Coe  was  arrested  and 
taken  to  the  Lincoln  jail.  Through  the 
aid  of  friends  he  made  his  escape. 

Now  that  their  lawful  leader,  Dick 
Bruer,  was  in  his  grave,  the  posse  re- 
turned to  Lincoln.  Here  they  formed 
themselves  into  a  band,  without  lawful 
authority,  to  avenge  the  murder  of 
Tunstall,  until  not  one  was  left  alive.  By 
common  consent,  "Billy  the  Kid"  was 
appointed  their  leader. 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  49 

In  Lincoln,  lived  one  of  "  Billy  the 
Kid's"  enemies,  J.  B.  Mathews,  known 
as  Billy  Mathews.  While  he  had  taken 
no  part  in  the  killing  of  Tunstall,  he  had 
openly  expressed  himself  in  favor  of 
Jimmie  Dolan  and  Murphy,  and  against 
the  other  faction. 

On  the  28th  day  of  March,  Billy  Math- 
ews, unarmed,  met  the  "Kid"  on  the 
street  by  accident.  Mathews  started  in- 
to a  doorway,  just  as  the  "Kid"  cut 
down  on  him  with  a  rifle.  The  bullet 
shattered  the  door  frame  above  his  head. 

Major  William  Brady,  a  brave  and 
honest  man,  was  the  sheriff  of  Lincoln 
County.  He  was  partial  to  the  Murphy- 
Dolan  faction,  and  this  offended  the  op- 
position. He  held  warrants  for  "Billy 
the  Kid"  and  his  associates,  for  the  kill- 
ing of  Morton,  Baker,  and  Roberts. 

On  the  first  day  of  -April,  1878,  Sher- 
iff Brady  left  the  Murphy-Dolan  store, 


50  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

accompanied  by  George  Hindman  and  J 
B.  Mathews  to  go  to  the  Court  House 
and  announce  that   no    term    of   court 
would  be  held  at  the  regular  April  term. 

The  sheriff  and  his  two  companions 
carried  rifles  in  their  hands,  as  in  those 
days  every  male  citizen  who  had  grown 
to  manhood,  went  well  armed. 

The  Tunstall  and  McSween  store  stood 
about  midway  between  the  Murphy-Do- 
lan  store  and  the  Court  House. 

In  the  rear  of  the  Tunstall-McSween 
store,  there  was  an  adobe  corral,  the 
east  side  of  which  projected  beyond  the 
store  building,  and  commanded  a  view 
of  the  street,  over  which  the  sheriff  had 
to  pass.  On  the  top  of  this  corral  wall, 
" Billy  the  Kid"  and  his  "warriors" 
had  cut  grooves  in  which  to  rest  their 
rifles. 

As  the  sheriff  and  party  came  in  sight, 
a  volley  was  fired  at  them  from  the 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  51 

adobe  fence.  Brady  and  Hindman  fell 
mortally  wounded,  and  Mathews  found 
shelter  behind  a  house  on  the  south  side 
of  the  street. 

Ike  Stockton,  who  afterwards  became 
a  killer  of  men,  and  a  bold  desperado, 
in  northwestern  New  Mexico,  and  south- 
western Colorado,  and  who  was  killed 
in  Durango,  Colorado,  at  that  time  kept 
a  saloon  in  Lincoln,  and  was  a  friend  of 
the  "Kid's."  He  ran  out  of  his  saloon 
to  the  wounded  officers.  Hindman  called 
for  water;  Stockton  ran  to  the  Bonita 
river,  nearby,  and  brought  him  a  drink 
in  his  hat. 

About  this  time,  "Billy  the  Kid" 
leaped  over  the  adobe  wall  and  ran  to 
the  fallen  officers.  As  he  raised  Sheriff 
Brady's  rifle  from  the  ground,  J.  B. 
Mathews  fired  at  him  from  his  hiding 
place.  The  ball  shattered  the  stock  of 
the  sheriff's  rifle  and  plowed  a  furrow 


52  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

through  the  "Kid's"  side,  but  it  proved 
not  to  be  a  dangerous  wound. 

Now  "Billy  the  Kid"  broke  for  shel- 
ter at  the  McSween  home.  Some  say 
that  he  fired  a  parting  shot  into  Sheriff 
Brady's  head.  Others  dispute  it.  At 
any  rate  both  Brady  and  Hindman  lay 
dead  on  the  main  street  of  Lincoln. 

This  cold-blooded  murder  angered 
many  citizens  of  Lincoln  against  the 
"Kid"  and  his  crowd.  Now  they  became 
outlaws  in  every  sense  of  the  word. 

From  now  on  the  ' '  Kid ' '  and  his  i '  war- 
riors" made  their  headquarters  at  Mc- 
Sween's  residence,  when  not  scouting 
over  the  country  searching  for  enemies, 
who  sanctioned  the  killing  of  Tunstall. 

Often  this  little  band  of  "warriors" 
would  ride  through  the  streets  of  Lin- 
coln to  defy  their  enemies,  and  be  royal- 
ly treated  by  their  friends. 

Finally,  George  W.  Peppin  was    ap- 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  53> 

pointed  Sheriff  of  the  County,  and  he 
appointed  a  dozen  or  more  deputies  to 
help  uphold  the  law.  Still  bloodshed  and 
anarchy  continued  throughout  the 
County,  as  the  " Kid's"  crowd  were  not 
idle. 

San  Patricio,  a  Mexican  plaza  on  the 
Ruidoso  river,  about  eight  miles  below 
Lincoln,  was  a  favorite  hangout  for  the 
4 "Kid"  and  his  "warriors,"  as  most  of 
the  natives  there  were  their  sympathiz- 
ers. 

One  morning,  before  breakfast,  in  San 
Patricio,  Jose  Miguel  Sedillo  brought 
the  "Kid"  news  that  Jesse  Evans  and  a 
crowd  of  ' '  Seven  River  Warriors ' '  were 
prowling  around  in  the  hills,  near  the 
old  Bruer  ranch,  where  a  band  of  the 
Chisum-McSween  horses  were  being 
kept. 

Thinking  that  their  intentions  were  to 
steal  these  horses,  the  "Kid"  and  party 


54  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

started  without  eating  breakfast.  In  the 
party,  besides  the  "Kid,",  were  Charlie 
Bowdre,  Henry  Brown,  J.  G.  Skerlock, 
John  Middleton,  and  a  young  Texan  by 
the  name  of  Tom  OThalliard,  who  had 
lately  joined  the  gang. 

On  reaching  the  hills,  the  party  split, 
the  "Kid"  taking  Henry  Brown  with 
him. 

Soon  the  "Kid"  heard  shooting  in  the 
direction  taken  by  the  balance  of  his 
party.  Putting  spurs  to  his  mount,  he 
dashed  up  to  Jesse  Evans  and  four  of 
his  "warriors,"  who  had  captured 
Charlie  Bowdre,  and  was  joking  him 
about  his  leader,  the  "Kid."  He  re- 
marked: "We  are  hungry,  and  thought 
we  would  roast  the  'Kid'  for  breakfast. 
We  want  to  hear  him  bleat. ' ' 

At  that  moment  a  horseman  dashed 
up  among  them  from  an  arroyo.  With 
a  smile,  Charlie  Bowdre  said,  pointing 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  55 

at  the  "Kid;"  "There  comes  your 
breakfast,  Jesse!" 

With  drawn  pistol,  "Old  Gray"  was 
checked  up  in  front  of  his  former  chum 
in  crime,  Jesse  Evans. 

With  a  smile,  Jesse  remarked:  "Well, 
Billy,  this  is  a  h — 1  of  a  way  to  intro- 
duce yourself  to  a  private  picnic  party." 

The  "Kid"  replied:  "How  are  you, 
Jesse  f  It 's  a  long  time  since  we  met. ' ' 

Jesse  said:  "I  understand  you  are 
after  the  men  who  killed  that  English- 
man. I,  nor  none  of  my  men  were 
there." 

"I  know  you  wasn't,  Jesse,"  replied 
the  "Kid."  "If  you  had  been,  the  ball 
would  have  been  opened  before  now. ' ' 

Soon  the  "Kid"  was  joined  by  the 
rest  of  his  party  and  both  bands  separ- 
ated in  peace. 


56  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

CHAPTER  VI. 

" BILLY  THE  KID"  AND  GANG 
STAND  OFF  A  POSSE  AT  THE 
CHISUM  RANCH.  A  BLOODY 
BATTLE  IN  LINCOLN,  WHICH 
LASTED  THREE  DAYS. 

As  time  went  on,  Sheriff  Peppin  ap- 
pointed new  deputies  on  whom  he  could 
depend.  Among  these  being  Marion 
Turner,  of  the  firm  of  Turner  &  Jones, 
merchants  at  Roswell,  on  the  Pecos  riv- 
er. 

For  several  years,  Turner  had  been 
employed  by  cattle  king  John  Chisum, 
and  up  to  May,  1878  had  helped  to  fight 
his  battles,  but  for  some  reason  he  had 
seceded  and  became  Chisum 's  bitter  ene- 
my. 

Marion  Turner  was  put  in  charge  of 
the  Sheriff's  forces  in  the  Pecos  valley, 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  57 

and  soon  had  about  forty  daring  cow- 
boys and  cattlemen  under  his  command. 
Roswell  was  their  headquarters. 

Early  in  July,  "Billy  the  Kid"  and 
fourteen  of  his  followers  rode  up  to  the 
Chisum  headquarters  ranch,  five  miles 
from  Eoswell,  to  make  that  their  ren- 
dezvous. 

Turner  with  his  force  tried  to  oust  the 
"Kid"  and  gang  from  their  stronghold, 
but  found  it  impossible,  owing  to  the 
house  being  built  like  a  fort  to  stand  off 
Indians,  but  he  kept  out  spies  to  catch 
the  "Kid"  napping. 

One  morning,  Turner  received  word 
that  the  "Kid"  and  party  had  left  for 
Fort  Sumner  on  the  upper  Pecos  river. 
The  trail  was  followed  about  twenty 
miles  up  the  river,  where  it  switched  off 
towards  Lincoln,  a  distance  of  about 
eighty  or  ninety  miles. 

The  trail    was    followed    to    Lincoln, 


58  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

where  it  was  found  that ' '  Billy  the  Kid ' ' 
and  gang  had  taken  possession  of  Mc- 
Sween's  fine  eleven-room  residence,  and 
were  prepared  to  stand  off  an  army. 

On  arriving  in  Lincoln  with  his  posse, 
Turner  was  joined  by  Sheriff  Peppin 
and  his  deputies,  and  they  made  the 
"Big  House,"  as  the  Murphy-Dolan 
store  was  called,  their  headquarters. 

For  three  days  shots  were  fired  back 
and  forth  from  the  buildings,  which 
were  far  apart. 

On  the  morning  of  July  19th,  1878, 
Marion  Turner  concluded  to  take  some 
of  his  men  to  the  McSween  residence 
and  demand  the  surrender  of  the  "Kid" 
and  his  ' l  warriors. ' '  With  Turner  were 
his  business  partner,  John  A.  Jones  and 
eight  other  fearless  men. 

At  that  moment  the  "Kid"  and  party 
were  in  a  rear  room  holding  a  consulta- 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  59 

tion,  otherwise  some  of  the  advancing 
party  might  have  been  killed. 

On  reaching  the  thick  adobe  wall  of 
the  building,  through  which  portholes 
had  been  cut,  Turner  and  his  men  found 
protection  against  the  wall  between 
these  openings. 

When  the  "Kid"  and  party  returned 
to  the  port-holes  they  were  hailed  by 
Turner,  who  demanded  their  surrender, 
as  he  had  warrants  for  their  arrest. 

The  "Kid"  replied:  "We,  too,  hold 
warrants  for  you  and  your  gang,  which 
we  will  serve  on  you,  hot  from  the  muz- 
zles of  our  guns." 

About  this  time  Lieut.  Col.  Dudley,  of 
the  Ninth  Cavalry,  arrived  from  Ft. 
Stanton  with  a  company  of  infantry 
and  some  artillery. 

Planting  his  cannons  midway  between 
the  belligerent  parties,  Col.  Dudley  pro- 
claimed that  he  would  turn  his  guns 


60  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

loose  on  the  first  of  the  two,  who  fired 
over  the  "heads  of  his  command. 

Despite  this  warning,  shots  were  fired 
back  and  forth,  but  no  harm  was  done. 

Now  Martin  Chavez,  who  at  this  writ- 
ing is  a  prosperous  merchant  in  Santa 
Fe,  rode  up  with  thirty-five  Mexicans, 
whom  he  had  deputized  to  protect  Mc- 
Sween  and  the  "Kid's"  party. 

Col.  Dudley  asked  him  under  what  au- 
thority he  was  acting.  He  replied  that 
he  held  a  certificate  as  deputy  sheriff 
under  Brady.  Col.  Dudley  told  him  that 
as  Sheriff  Brady  was  dead,  and  a  new 
sheriff  had  been  appointed,  his  commis- 
sion was  not  in  effect.  Still  he  proclaim- 
ed that  he  would  protect  the  "Kid"  and 
McSween. 

Now  Col.  Dudley  ordered  Chavez  off 
the  field  of  battle,  or  he  would  have  his 
men  fire  on  them.  When  the  guns  were 
pointed  in  their  direction,  the  Chavez 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  61 

crowd  retreated  to  the  Ellis  Hotel.  Here 
he  ordered  his  followers  to  fire  on  the 
soldiers  if  they  opened  up  on  the  "Kid" 
and  party  with  their  cannon. 

Toward  night  the  Turner  men,  who 
were  up  against  the  McSween  residence, 
between  the  port-holes,  managed  to  set 
fire  to  the  front  door  and  windows.  A 
strong  wind  carried  the  blaze  to  the 
woodwork  of  other  rooms. 

Mrs.  McSween  and  her  three  lady 
friends  had  left  the  building  before  the 
fight  started.  She  had  made  one  trip 
back  to  see  her  husband.  The  firing 
ceased  while  she  was  in  the  house. 

In  the  front  parlor,  Mrs.  McSween 
had  a  fine  piano.  To  prevent  it  from 
burning,  the  "Kid"  moved  it  from  one 
room  to  another  until  it  was  finally  in 
the  kitchen. 

The  crowd  made  merry  around  the 
piano,  singing  and  "pawing  the  ivory," 


62  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

as  the  "Kid"  expressed  it  to  the  writer 
a  few  months  later. 

After  dark,  when  the  fiery  flames  be- 
gan to  lick  their  way  into  the  kitchen, 
where  the  smoke  begrimed  band  were 
congregated,  a  question  of  surrender 
was  discussed,  but  the  "Kid"  put  his 
veto  on  the  move.  He  stood  near  the 
outer  door  of  the  kitchen,  with  his  rifle, 
and  swore  he  would  kill  the  first  man 
who  cried  surrender.  He  had  planned 
to  wait  until  the  last  minute,  then  all 
rush  out  of  the  door  together,  and  make 
a  run  for  the  Bonita  river,  a  distance  of 
about  fifty  yards. 

Finally  the  heat  became  so  great,  the 
kitchen  door  was  thrown  open. 

At  this  moment  one  Mexican  became 
frightened  and  called  out  at  the  top  of 
his  voice  not  to  shoot,  that  they  would 
surrender.  The  "Kid"  struck  the  fel- 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  63 

low  over  the  head   with  his    rifle    and 
knocked  him  senseless. 

When  the  Mexican  called  out  that  they 
would  surrender,  Robert  W.  Beckwith, 
a  cattleman  of  Seven  Rivers,  and  John 
Jones,  stepped  around  the  corner  of  the 
building  in  full  view  of  the  kitchen  door. 

A  shot  was  fired  at  Beckwith  and 
wounded  him  on  the  hand.  Then  Beck- 
with opened  fire  and  shot  Lawyer  Mc- 
Sween,  though  this  was  not  a  death  shot. 
Another  shot  from  Beckwith 's  #un 
killed  Vicente  Romero.  Now  the  '  '  Kid ' ' 
planted  a  bullet  in  Beckwith 's  head,  and 
he  fell  over  dead.  Leaping  over  Beck- 
with 's  body,  the  band  made  a  run  for 
the  river.  The  "Kid"  was  in  the  lead 
yelling :  '  '  Come  on,  boys ! ' '  Tom  0  Thai- 
Hard  was  in  the  rear.  He  made  his  es- 
cape amidst  flying  bullets,  without  a 
scratch,  although  he  had  stopped  to  pick 


C4  'TBILiLY  THE  KID" 

up  his  friend  Harvey  Morris.  Finding 
him  dead  he  dropped  the  body, 

McSween  fell  dead  in  the  back  yard 
with  nine  bullets  in  his  body,  which  was 
badly  scorched  by  the  fire,  before  he  left 
the  building. 

It  was  10  P.  M.  when  the  fight  had 
ended.  Seven  men  had  been  killed  and 
many  wounded.  Only  two  of  Turner's 
posse  were  killed,  while  the  "Kid"  lost 
five, — McSween,  Morris  and  three  Mexi- 
cans, 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  65 

CHAPTEE  VII. 

" BILLY  THE  KID"  KILLS  TWO 
MORE  MEN.  AT  THE  HEAD  OF 
A  RECKLESS  BAND,  HE 
STEALS  HORSES  BY  THE 
WHOLESALE.  HE  BECOMES 
DESPERATELY  IN  LOVE  WITH 
MISS  DULCUIEA  DEL  TOBOSO. 

After  their  escape  from  Lincoln, 
"Billy  the  Kid"  got  his  little  band  to- 
gether, and  made  a  business  of  stealing 
stock  and  gambling.  Their  headquar- 
ters were  made  in  the  hills  near  Fort 
Stanton — only  a  few  miles  above  Lin- 
coln. The  soldiers  at  the  Fort  paid  no 
attention  to  them. 

Now  Governor  Lew  Wallace,  the  fam- 
ous author  of  "Ben  Hur,"  of  Santa  Fe, 
the  capital  of  the  Territory  of  New  Mex- 
ico, issued  a  proclamation  granting  a 


66  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

pardon  to  " Billy  the  Kid"  and  his  fol- 
lowers, if  they  would  quit  their  lawless- 
ness, but  the  "Kid"  laughed  it  off  as  a 
joke. 

On  the  5th  day  of  August,  "Billy  the 
Kid"  and  gang  rode  up  in  plain  view  of 
the  Mescalero  Indian  Agency  and  began 
rounding  up  a  band  of  horses. 

A  Jew  by  the  name  of  Bernstein, 
mounted  a  horse  and  said  he  would  go 
out  and  stop  them.  He  was  warned  of 
the  danger,  but  persisted  in  his  purpose 
of  preventing  the  stealing  of  their  band 
of  gentle  saddle  horses. 

When  Mr.  Bernstein  rode  up  to  the 
gang  and  told  them  to  "vamoose,"  in 
other  words,  to  hit  the  road,  the  "Kid" 
drew  his  rifle  and  shot  the  poor  Jew 
dead.  This  was  the  "Kid's"  most  cow- 
ardly act.  His  excuse  was  that  he 
"didn't  like  a  Jew,  nohow." 

During  the  fall  the  government   had 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  67 

given  a  contract  to  a  large  gang  of  Mex- 
icans to  put  up  several  hundred  tons  of 
hay  at  $25  a  ton.  As  they  drew  their 
pay,  the  "Kid"  and  gang  were  on  hand 
to  deal  monte  and  win  their  money. 

When  the  contract  was  finished, 
there  was  no  more  business  for  the 
"Kid's"  monte  game,  so  with  his  own 
hand,  as  told  to  the  author  by  himself, 
he  set  fire  to  the  hay  stacks  one  windy 
night. 

Now  the  Government  gave  another 
contract  for  several  hundred  tons  of  hay 
at  $50  a  ton — as  the  work  had  to  be 
rushed  before  frost  killed  the  grass. 

When  pay  day  came  around  the 
"Kid's"  monte  game  was  raking  in 
money  again. 

The  new  stacks  were  allowed  to  stand, 
as  it  was  too  late  in  the  season  to  cut 
the  grass  for  more  hay. 

During  the  fall  the  "Kid"  and  some 


68  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

of  his  gang  made  trips  to  Fort  Simmer. 
Bowdre  and  Skurlock  always  remained 
near  their  wives  in  Lincoln,  but  finally 
those  two  outlaws  moved  their  families 
to  "Sumner,"  where  a  rendezvous  was 
established.  Here  one  of  their  gang, 
who  always  kept  in  the  dark,  and  worked 
on  the  sly,  lived  with  his  Mexican  wife, 
a  sister  to  the  wife  of  Pat  Garrett.  His 
name  was  Barney  Mason,  and  he  carried 
a  curse  of  God  on  his  brow  for  the  kill- 
ing of  John  Farris,  a  cowboy  friend  of 
the  writer's,  in  the  early  winter  of  1878. 
On  one  of  his  trips  to  Fort  Sumner, 
" Billy  the  Kid"  fell  desperately  in  love 
with  a  pretty  little  seventeen-year-old 
half-breed  Mexican  girl,  whom  we  will 
call  Miss  Dulcinea  del  Toboso.  She  was 
a  daughter  of  a  once  famous  man,  and  a 
sister  to  a  man  who  owned  sheep  on  a 
thousand  hills.  The  falling  in  love  with 
this  pretty,  young  miss,  was  virtually 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  69 

the  cause  of  "Billy  the  Kid's"  death, 
as  up  to  the  last  he  hovered  around  Fort 
Sumner  like  a  moth  around  a  blazing 
candle.  He  had  no  thought  of  getting 
his  wings  singed;  he  couldn't  resist  the 
temptation  of  visiting  this  pretty  little 
miss. 

During  the  month  of  September, 
1878,  the  "Kid"  and  part  of  his  gang 
visited  the  town  of  Lincoln,  and  on  leav- 
ing there  stole  a  large  band  of  fine  range 
horses  from  Charlie  Fritz  and  others. 

This  band  of  horses  was  driven  to 
Fort  Sumner,  thence  east  to  Tascosa  in 
the  wild  Panhandle  of  Texas,  on  the 
Canadian  river. 

While  disposing  of  these  horses  to 
the  cattlemen  and  cowboys,  the  "Kid" 
and  his  gang  camped  for  several  weeks 
at  the  "LX"  cattle  ranch,  twenty  miles 
below  Tascosa. 

It  was  here,  during  the  months  of  Oc- 


70  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

tober  and  November,  1878,  that  the  writ- 
er made  the  acquaintance  of  "  Billy  the 
Kid,"  Tom  O'Phalliard,  Henry  Brown, 
Fred  Wyat,  John  Middleton,  and  others 
of  the  gang  whose  names  can't  be  re- 
called. 

The  author  had  just  returned  from 
Chicago  where  he  had  taken  a  shipment 
of  fat  steers,  and  found  this  gang  of  out- 
laws camped  under  some  large  cotton- 
wood  trees,  within  a  few  hundred  yards 
of  the  "LX"  headquarter  ranch  house. 

For  a  few  weeks,  much  of  my  time  was 
spent  with  " Billy  the  Kid."  We  became 
quite  chummy.  He  presented  me  with  a 
nicely  bound  book,  in  which  he  wrote  his 
autograph.  I  had  previously  given  him 
a  fine  meerschaum  cigar  holder. 

While  loafing  in  their  camp,  we 
passed  off  the  time  playing  cards  and 
shooting  at  marks.  With  our  Colt's  45 
pistols  I  could  hit  the  mark  as  often  as 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  71 

the  "Kid,"  but  when  it  came  to  quick 
shooting,  he  could  get  in  two  shots  to 
my  one. 

I  found  "Billy  the  Kid"  to  be  a  good 
natured  young  man.  He  was  always 
cheerful  and  smiling.  Being  still  in  his 
teens,  he  had  no  sign  of  a  beard.  His 
eyes  were  a  hazel  blue,  and  his  brown 
hair  was  long  and  curly.  The  skin  on 
his  face  was  tanned  to  a  chestnut 
brown,  and  was  as  soft  and  tender  as  a 
baby's.  He  weighed  about  one  hundred 
and  forty  pounds,  and  was  five  feet, 
eight  inches  tall.  His  only  defects  were 
two  upper  front  teeth,  which  projected 
outward  from  his  well  shaped  mouth. 

During  his  many  visists  to  Tascosa, 
where  whiskey  was  plentiful,  the  i '  Kid ' ' 
never  got  drunk.  He  seemed  to  drink 
more  for  sociability  than  for  the  "love 
of  liquor. " 

Here  Henry  Brown  and  Fred  Wyat 


72  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

quit  the  "Kid  V  outlaw  gang  and  went 
to  the  Chickasaw  Nation,  in  the  Indian 
Territory,  where  the  parents  of  half- 
breed  Fred  Wyat  lived. 

It  is  said  that  Fred  Wyat,  in  later 
years,  served  as  a  member  of  the  Okla- 
homa Legislature. 

Henry  Brown  became  City  Marshal 
of  Caldwell,  Kansas,  and  while  wearing 
his  star  rode  to  the  nearby  town  of  Medi- 
cine Lodge,  with  three  companions  and 
in  broad  day  light,  held  up  the  bank, 
killing  the  president,  Wiley  Payne,  and 
his  cashier,  George  Jeppert.  This  put 
an  end  to  Henry  Brown,  as  the  enraged 
citizens  mobbed  the  whole  band  of  "bad 
men." 

The  snow  had  begun  to  fly  when  the 
"Kid"  and  the  remnant  of  his  gang  re- 
turned to  Fort  Simmer,  New  Mexico. 

One  of  his  followers,  John  Middleton, 
had  sworn  off  being  an  outlaw  and  rode 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  73 

away  from  Tascosa,  for  southern  Kan- 
sas, where  the  author  met  him  in  later 
years.  He  had  settled  down  to  a  peace- 
ful life. 

The  "Kid"  made  his  headquarters  at 
Fort  Sumner,  so  as  to  be  near  his  sweet- 
heart. He  made  several  raids  into  Lin- 
coln County  to  steal  cattle  and  horses. 
On  one  of  these  trips  to  Lincoln  County, 
his  respect  for  women  and  children, 
avoided  a  bloody  battle  with  United 
States  soldiers. 

In  the  month  of  February,  1879,  Wm. 
H.  McBroom,  at  the  head  of  a  United 
States  surveying  crew,  established  a 
camp  at  the  Roberts  ranch  on  the  Pen- 
asco  creek,  in  the  Pecos  valley. 

While  absent  with  most  of  his  crew, 
Mr.  McBroom  left  a  young  man,  twen- 
ty-two years  of  age,  Will  M.  Tipton,  in 
charge  of  the  camp  and  extra  mules.  A 
young  Mexican  by  the  name  of  Nicholas 


74  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

Gutierez  was  detailed  to  help  young  Tip- 
ton  care  for  the  stock. 

Their  camp  was  within  a  few  hundred 
feet  of  the  Eoberts  home,  on  the  bank 
of  the  creek.  One  morning  Mr.  Roberts 
started  up  the  river  to  Eoswell  to  buy 
supplies,  leaving  his  wife,  grown  daugh- 
ter, and  five-year-old  son  at  the  ranch. 

Late  that  evening,  Captain  Hooker 
and  some  negro  soldiers  pitched  camp 
near  the  Eoberts  home.  They  had  sev- 
eral American  prisoners  with  them,  to 
be  taken  to  Fort  Stanton  and  placed  in 
jail. 

That  night  after  supper,  Mr.  Will  M. 
Tipton,  who  at  this  writing,  1920,  is  a 
highly  respected  citizen  of  Santa  Fe, 
New  Mexico,  says  he  and  Nicolas  Gutie- 
rez were  sitting  on  the  bank  of  the  creek 
in  their  camp.  He  was  playing  a  guitar 
while  Nicolas  was  singing.  Just  then  a 
horseman  climbed  up  the  steep  embank- 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  75 

ment  from  the  bed  of  the  creek,  and  dis- 
mounted. 

This  stranger  began  asking  questions 
about  the  soldiers'  camp,  where  the 
camp-fires  blazed  brilliantly  in  the 
pitchy  darkness. 

Finally  the  stranger  gave  a  shrill 
whistle,  and  soon  a  companion  rode  into 
camp,  out  of  the  bed  of  the  creek. 

This  second  visitor  was  a  slender, 
boyish  young  man,  who  seemed  anxious 
to  learn  all  about  the  soldiers'  camp. 

In  a  few  moments  three  negro  soldiers 
strolled  into  camp  and  chatted  awhile. 
When  they  left  to  return  to  their  quar- 
ters, the  two  strangers  bade  Tipton  and 
his  companion  goodnight,  and  rode  down 
the  bed  of  the  creek. 

At  noon  next  day,  Mr.  Roberts  re- 
turned from  Boswell.  On  meeting  young 
Tipton,  he  remarked:  "You  boys  had 
'Billy  the  Kid'  as  a  visitor  last  night." 


76  "BILLY  THE  KID 

He  then  told  of  meeting  the  "Kid"  and 
his  band  of  "  warriors "  that  morning, 
and  of  how  the  "Kid"  told  of  his  visit 
to  the  McBroom  camp.  He  told  Will 
Tipton  that  the  small  young  man  was 
the  "Kid." 

"Billy  the  Kid"  had  told  Koberts 
that  they  had  planned  to  make  a  charge 
into  the  soldiers'  camp  and  liberate  the 
prisoners,  who  were  friends  of  theirs, 
but  finding  that  Mrs.  Roberts  and  the 
children  were  alone,  and  that  the  sol- 
diers' camp  was  so  near  the  Eoberts 
home,  they  gave  up  the  proposed  battle, 
knowing  that  the  shooting  would  disturb 
Mrs.  Eoberts  and  the  family. 

Mr.  Eoberts  explained  to  Mr.  Tipton 
that  he  had  always  fed  the  "Kid"  and 
his  "warriors"  when  they  happened  by 
his  place,  hence  their  friendship  for  him. 

Now  the  "Kid"  and  his  party  rode  to 
Lincoln  to  use  their  influence  in  a  peace- 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  77 

ful  way  to  liberate  their  friends,  whom 
Capt.  Hooker  intended  to  turn  over  to 
the  new  sheriff  of  Lincoln  County. 

In  Lincoln  the  "Kid"  met  his  former 
chum,  Jesse  Evans,  and  they  started  out 
to  celebrate  the  meeting.  With  Jesse 
Evans  was  a  desperado  named  William 
Campbell. 

One  night  a  lawyer  named  Chapman, 
who  had  been  sent  from  Las  Vegas  to 
settle  up  the  McSween  estate,  was  in  the 
saloon,  when  Campbell  shot  at  his  feet 
to  make  him  dance.  The  lawyer  protest- 
ed indignantly  and  was  shot  dead  by 
Campbell. 

Jimmie  Dolan  and  J.  B.  Mathews,  be- 
ing present,  were  later  arrested,  along 
with  Campbell,  for  this  killing. 

Dolan  and  Mathews  came  clear  at  the 
preliminary  trial,  and  Campbell  was 
bound  over  to  the  Grand  Jury.  He  was 
taken  to  Fort  Stanton  and  placed  in 


78  "BILLY  THE  KID 

jaiL  There  he  made  his  escape  and  has 
never  been  heard  of  in  that  part  of  the 
country  since. 

Now  "Billy  the  Kid"  and  Tom 
O'Phalliard  rode  back  to  Fort  Simmer, 
but  soon  returned  to  Lincoln,  where  they 
were  arrested  by  Sheriff  Kimbrall  and 
his  deputies — merely  as  a  matter  of 
performing  their  duty,  but  with  no  in- 
tention of  disgracing  them.  They  were 
turned  over  to  Deputy  Sheriff  T.  B. 
Longworth  and  guarded  in  the  home  of 
Don  Juan  Patron,  where  they  were 
wined  and  dined. 

On  the  21st  day  of  March,  1879,  Dep- 
uty Sheriff  Longworth  received  orders 
to  place  his  two  prisoners  in  the  town 
jail — a  filthy  hole. 

Arriving  at  the  jail  door,  the  "Kid" 
told  Mr.  Longworth  that  he  had  been  in 
this  jail  once  before,  and  he  swore  he 
would  never  go  into  it  again,  but  to 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  79 

avoid  making  trouble,  he  would  go  back 
on  his  pledge. 

On  a  pine  door  to  one  of  the  cells,  the 
"Kid"  wrote  with  his  pencil:  "William 
Bonney  was  incarcerated  first  time,  De- 
cember 22nd,  1878 — Second  time,  March 
21st,  1879,  and  hope  I  will  never  be 
again.  W.  H.  Bonney." 

This  inscription  showed  on  the  old  jail 
door  for  many  years  after  it  was  writ- 
ten. 

The  first  time  the  "Kid"  was  put  in 
this  jail  he  walked  right  out,  and  this 
second  time,  he  broke  down  the  door 
when  he  got  ready  to  go. 

After  breaking  out  of  the  jail,  the 
"Kid"  and  O'Phalliard  spent  a  couple 
of  weeks  in  Lincoln,  carrying  their  rifles 
whenever  they  walked  through  the 
street,  in  plain  view  of  the  sheriff. 

In  April,  they  returned  to  Fort  Sum- 
ner  and  were  joined  by  Charlie  Bowdre 


80  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

and  Skurlock.  Jesse  Evans  had  left  for 
the  lower  Pecos,  where  he  was  later 
killed,  according  to  reports. 

The  summer  was  spent  by  the  "Kid" 
and  his  followers  stealing  cattle  and 
horses. 

In  October  they  went  to  Boswell  and 
stole  118  head  of  John  Chisum's  fattest 
steers,  and  later  sold  them  to  Colorado 
beef  buyers.  The  "Kid"  claimed  that 
Chisum  owed  him  for  fighting  his  bat- 
tles during  the  Lincoln  County  war,  and 
he  was  using  this  method  to  get  his  pay. 

From  now  on,  for  the  next  year,  the 
"Kid"  and  gang  did  a  wholesale  busi- 
ness in  stealing  cattle.  Tom  Cooper  and 
his  gang  had  joined  issues  with  the 
"Kid"  and  party,  and  they  established 
headquarters  at  the  Portales  Lake  —  a 
salty  body  of  water  at  the  foot  of  the 
Staked  Plains,  about  seventy-five  miles 
east  of  Fort  Sumner. 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  81 

Here  a  permanent  camp  was  pitched 
against  a  cliff  of  rock,  at  a  fresh  water 
spring,  and  it  afterward  became  noted 
as  " Billy  the  Kid's"  cave.  A  rock  wall 
had  been  built  against  the  cliff  to  take 
in  the  spring,  and  afforded  protection 
as  a  fort  in  case  of  a  surprise  from  In- 
dians or  law-officers. 

They  had  the  whole  country  to  them- 
selves, as  there  were  no  inhabitants — 
only  drifting  bands  of  buffalo  hunters. 

Eaids  were  made  into  the  Texas  Pan- 
handle, the  western  line  being  a  few 
miles  east  of  their  camp,  and  fat  steers 
stolen  from  the  "LX"  and  "LIT"  cat- 
tle ranges  on  the  Canadian  river. 

These  herds  of  stolen  steers  were 
driven  to  Tularosa,  in  Dona  Ana 
County,  New  Mexico,  and  turned  over 
to  Pat  Cohglin,  the  "King  of  Tularosa," 
who  had  a  contract  to  furnish  beef  to 
the  U.  S.  soldiers  at  Ft.  Stanton.  Cohg- 


82  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

lin  had  made  a  deal  with  "  Billy  the 
Kid"  to  buy  all  the  steers  he  could  steal 
in  the  Texas  Panhandle,  and  deliver  to 
him  in  Tularosa. 

In  January,  1880,  the  "Kid"  added 
another  notch  on  the  handle  of  his  pistol 
as  a  mankiller.  He  and  a  crowd  of  the 
Chisum  cowboys  were  celebrating  in 
Bob  Hargroves '  saloon  in  Fort  Sunnier. 
A  bad-man  from  Texas,  by  the  name  of 
Joe  Grant,  was  filling  his  hide  full  of 
"Kill-me-quick"  whiskey,  in  the  Har- 
groves' saloon. 

Grant  pulled  a  fine,  ivory-handled 
Colt's  pistol  from  the  scabbard  of  Cow- 
boy Finan,  putting  his  own  pistol  in 
place  of  it. 

Here  the  "Kid"  asked  Grant  to  let 
him  look  at  this  beautiful,  ivory-handled 
pistol.  The  request  was  granted.  Then 
the  "Kid"  revolved  the  cylinder  and 
saw  there  were  two  empty  chambers.  He 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  8* 

let  the  hammer  down  so  that  the  first 
two  attempts  to  shoot  would  be  failures. 

Now  the  pretty  pistol  was  handed  back 
to  Grant  and  he  stuck  it  in  his  scabbard. 

A  little  later  Grant  stepped  behind 
the  bar,  so  as  to  face  the  crowd,  and 
jerking  his  pistol,  he  began  knocking 
glasses  off  the  bar  with  it.  Eyeing  "  Bil- 
ly the  Kid,"  he  remarked:  "Pard,  I'll 
kill  a  man  quicker  than  you  will,  for  the 
whiskey." 

The  "Kid"  accepted  the  challenge. 
Grant  fired  at  the  "Kid,"  but  the  ham- 
mer struck  on  an  empty  chamber.  Now 
the  "Kid"  planted  a  ball  between 
Grant's  eyes  and  he  fell  over  dead. 

At  the  Bosque  Grande,  on  the  Pecos 
river,  the  three  Dedrick  boys,  Sam,  Dan, 
and  Mose,  owned  a  ranch,  which  became 
quite  a  rendezvous  for  the  "Kid's"  and 
Tom  Cooper's  gangs.  From  here  the 
herds  of  stolen  Panhandle,  Texas,  cat- 


84  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

tie  were  started  across  the  waterless 
desert  to  the  foot  of  the  Capitan  moun- 
tains, a  distance  of  about  one  hundred 
miles. 

Here  Dave  Rudabaugh,  who  had  the 
previous  fall  killed  the  jailer  in  Las 
Vegas  in  trying  to  liberate  his  friend, 
Webb,  joined  " Billy  the  Kid's"  gang. 
Also  Billy  Wilson  and  Tom  Pickett 
joined  the  party,  and  their  time  was 
spent  stealing  cattle  and  horses. 

CHAPTEE  VIH. 

" BILLY  THE  KID"  ADDS  ONE 
MOEE  NOTCH  TO  HIS  GUN  AS 
A  KILLER.  TRAPPED  AT  LAST 
BY  PAT  GARRETT  AND  POSSE. 
TWO  OF  HIS  GANG  KILLED.  IN 
JAIL  AT  SANTA  FE. 

In  the  year  1879,  rich  gold  ore  had 
been  struck  on  Baxter  mountain,  three 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  85 

miles  from  White  Oaks  Spring,  about 
thirty  miles  north  of  Lincoln,  and  the 
new  town  of  White  Oaks  was  estab- 
lished, with  a  population  of  about  one 
thousand  souls. 

The  "Kid"  had  many  friends  in  this 
hurrah  mining  camp.  He  had  shot  up 
the  town,  and  was  wanted  by  the  law  of- 
ficers. 

On  the  23rd  day  of  November,  1880, 
the  "Kid"  celebrated  his  birthday  in 
White  Oaks,  under  cover,  among  friends. 

On  riding  out  of  town  with  his  gang 
after  dark,  he  took  one  friendly  shot  at 
Deputy  Sheriff  Jim  Woodland,  who  was 
standing  in  front  of  the  Pioneer  Saloon. 
The  chances  are  he  had  no  intention  of 
shooting  Woodland,  as  he  was  a  warm 
friend  to  his  chum,  Tom  OThalliard, 
who  was  riding  by  his  side.  0  Thalliard 
and  Jim  Woodland  had  come  to  New 
Mexico  from  Texas  together,  a  few  years 


86  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

previous.  Woodland  is  still  a  resident 
of  Lincoln  County,  with  a  permanent 
home  on  the  large  Block  cattle  ranch. 

This  shot  woke  up  Deputy  Sheriffs 
Jim  Carlyle  and  J.  N.  Bell,  who  fired 
parting  shots  at  the  gang,  as  they  gal- 
loped out  of  town. 

The  next  day  a  posse  was  made  up  of 
leading  citizens  of  White  Oaks  with  Dep- 
uty Sheriff  Will  Hudgens  and  Jim  Car- 
lyle in  command.  They  followed  the  trail 
of  the  outlaw  gang  to  Coyote  Spring, 
where  they  came  onto  the  gang  in  camp. 
Shots  were  exchanged.  " Billy  the  Kid" 
had  sprung  onto  his  horse,  which  was 
shot  from  under  him. 

When  the  " Kid's"  gang  fired  on 
the  posse,  Johnny  Hudgens'  mount  fell 
over  dead,  shot  in  the  head. 

The  weather  was  bitter  cold  and  snow 
lay  on  the  ground.  Without  overcoat  or 
gloves,  " Billy  the  Kid"  rushed  for  the 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  87 

hills,  afoot,  after  his  horse  fell.  The  rest 
of  the  gang  had  become  separated,  and 
each  one  looked  out  for  himself. 

In  the  outlaws'  camp  the  posse  found 
a  good  supply  of  grub  and  plunder. 

Jim  Carlyle  appropriated  the 
"Kid's"  gloves  and  put  them  on  his 
hands.  No  doubt  they  were  the  real 
cause  of  his  death  later. 

With  "Billy  the  Kid's"  saddle,  over- 
coat  and  the  other  plunder  found  in  the 
outlaws'  camp,  the  posse  returned  to 
White  Oaks,  arriving  there  about  dark. 

It  would  seem  from  all  accounts  that 
"Billy  the  Kid"  trailed  the  posse  into 
White  Oaks,  where  he  found  shelter  at 
the  Dedrick  and  West  Livery  Stable.  He 
was  seen  on  the  street  during  the  night. 

On  November  27th,  a  posse  of  White 
Oaks  citizens  under  command  of  Jim 
Carlyle  and  Will  Hudgens,  rode  to  the 
Jim  Greathouse  road-ranch,  about  forty 


88  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

miles  north,  arriving  there  before  day- 
light. Their  horses  were  secreted,  and 
they  made  breastworks  of  logs  and 
brush,  so  as  to  cover  the  ranch  house, 
which  was  known  to  be  a  rendezvous  of 
the  "Kid's"  gang. 

After  daylight  the  cook  came  out  of 
the  house  with  a  nosebag  and  ropes  to 
hunt  the  horses  which  had  been  hobbled 
the  evening  before. 

This  cook,  Steck,  was  captured  by  the 
posse  behind  the  breastworks.  He  con- 
fessed that  the  "Kid"  and  his  gang 
were  in  the  house. 

Now  Steck  was  sent  to  the  house  with 
a  note  to  the  "Bad"  demanding  his  sur- 
render. The  reply  he  sent  back  by  Steck 
read:  "You  can  only  take  me  a  corpse." 

The  proprietor  of  the  ranch,  Jim 
Greathouse,  accompanied  Steck  back  to 
the  posse  behind  the  logs. 

,  Jimmie  Carlyle  suggested  that  he  go 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  89 

to  the  house  unarmed  and  have  a 
talk  with  the  "Kid."  Will  Hudgens 
wouldn't  agree;  to  this  until  after  Great- 
house  said  he  would  remain  to  guarantee 
Carlyle's  safe  return.  That  if  the  "Kid" 
should  kill  Carlyle,  they  could  take  his 
life. 

A  time  limit  was  set  for  Carlyle's  re- 
turn, or  Greathouse  would  be  killed. 
This  was  written  on  a  note  and  sent  by 
Steck  to  the  "Kid." 

When  Carlyle  entered  the  saloon,  in 
the  front  part  of  the  log  building,  the 
"Kid"  greeted  him  in  a  friendly  man- 
ner, but  seeing  his  gloves  sticking  out 
of  Carlyle's  coat  pocket,  he  grabbed 
them,  saying:  "What  in  the  h — 1  are  you 
doing  with  my  gloves?"  Of  course  this 
brought  back  the  misery  he  had  endured 
without  gloves  after  the  posse  raided 
their  camp  at  Coyote  Spring. 

Here  he  invited  Carlyle  up  to  the  bar 


90  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

to  take  his  last  drink  on  earth — as  he 
said  he  intended  to  Mil  him  when  the 
whiskey  was  down. 

After  Carlyle  had  drained  his  glass 
the  "Kid"  pulled  his  pistol  and  told 
him  to  say  his  prayers  before  he  fired. 

With  a  laugh  the  "Kid"  put  up  his 
pistol,  saying,  "Why,  Jimmie,  I 
wouldn't  kill  you.  Let's  all  take  another 
friendly  drink." 

Now  the  time  was  spent  singing  and 
dancing.  Every  time  the  gang  took  a 
drink,  Carlyle  had  to  join  them  in  a  so- 
cial glass. 

The  "Kid"  afterwards  told  friends 
that  he  had  no  intention  of  killing  Car- 
lyle, that  he  just  wanted  to  detain  him 
till  after  dark,  so  they  could  make  a  dash 
for  liberty. 

The  time  had  just  expired  when  the 
posse  were  to  kill  Jim  Greathouse,  if 
Carlyle  was  not  back.  At  that  moment  a 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  91 

man  behind  the  breastworks  fired  a  shot 
at  the  house.  Carlyle  supposed  this  shot 
had  killed  Greathouse,  which  would  re- 
sult in  his  own  death.  He  leaped  for  the 
glass  window,  taking  sash  and  all  with 
him.  The  ' '  Kid ' '  fired  a  bullet  into  him. 
When  he  struck  the  ground  he  began 
crawling  away  on  his  hands  and  knees, 
as  he  was  badly  wounded.  Now  the 
"Kid"  finished  him  with  a  well  aimed 
shot  from  his  pistol. 

The  men  behind  the  logs  were  wit- 
nesses to  this  murder, — as  they  could 
see  Carlyle  crawling  away  from  the 
window.  Now  they  opened  fire  with  a 
vengeance  on  the  building.  The  gang 
had  previously  piled  sacks  of  grain  and 
flour  against  the  doors,  to  keep  out  the 
bullets. 

In  the  excitement,  Jim  Greathouse 
slipped  away  from  the  posse  and  ran 
through  the  woods.  Finding  one  of  his 


92  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

own  hobbled  ponies,  he  mounted  him 
and  rode  away.  He  was  later  shot  by  des- 
perado Joe  Fowler,  with  a  double-barrel 
shot  gun,  as  he  lay  in  bed  asleep.  This 
murder  took  place  on  Joe  Fowler's  cat- 
tle ranch  west  of  Socorro,  New  Mexico. 

After  dark  the  posse  concluded  to  re- 
turn to  White  Oaks,  as  they  were  cold 
and  hungry.  They  had  brought  no  grub 
with  them,  and  they  dared  not  build  a 
fire  to  keep  warm,  for  fear  of  being  shot 
by  the  gang. 

A  few  hours  later  the  "Kid"  and 
gang  made  a  break  for  liberty,  intend- 
ing to  fight  the  posse  to  a  finish,  they 
not  knowing  that  the  officers  had  de- 
parted. 

All  night  the  gang  waded  through  the 
deep  snow,  afoot.  They  arrived  at  Mr. 
Spence's  ranch  at  daylight,  and  ate  a 
hearty  breakfast.  Then  continued  their 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  93 

journey  towards  Anton  Chico  on  the 
Pecos  river. 

About  daylight  that  morning,  Will 
Hudgens,  Johnny  Hurley,  and  Jim 
Brent  made  up  a  large  posse  and  start- 
ed to  the  Greathouse  road-ranch.  Arriv- 
ing there,  they  found  the  place  vacated. 
The  buildings  were  set  afire,  then  the 
journey  continued  on  the  gang's  trail, 
in  the  deep  snow. 

A  highly  respected  citizen,  by  the 
name  of  Spence,  had  established  a  road- 
ranch  on  a  cut-off  road  between  White 
Oaks  and  Las  Vegas.  The  gang's  trail 
led  up  to  this  ranch,  and  Mr.  Spence 
acknowledged  coking  breakfast  for  them. 

Now  Mr.  Spence  was  dragged  to  a  tree 
with  a  rope  around  his  neck  to  hang 
him.  Many  of  the  posse  protested 
against  the  hanging  of  Spence,  and  his 
life  was  spared,  but  revenge  was  taken 
by  burning  up  his  buildings. 


94  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

The  "Kid's"  trail  was  now  followed 
into  a  rough,  hilly  country  and  there 
abandoned.  Then  the  posse  returned  to 
White  Oaks. 

In  Anton  Chico,  the  "Kid"  and  his 
party  stole  horses  and  saddles,  and  rode 
down  the  Pecos  river. 

A  few  days  later,  Pat  Garrett,  the 
sheriff  of  Lincoln  County,  arrived  in 
Anton  Chico  from  Fort  Sumner,  to  make 
up  a  posse  to  run  down  the  "Kid"  and 
his  gang. 

At  this  time  the  writer  and  Bob  Bob- 
erson  had  arrived  in  Anton  Chico  from 
Tascosa,  Texas,  with  a  crew  of  fighting 
cowboys,  to  help  run  down  the  "Kid," 
and  put  a  stop  to  the  stealing  of  Pan- 
handle, Texas,  cattle. 

The  author  had  charge  of  five  "war- 
riors," Jas.  H.  East,  Cal  Polk,  Lee  Hall, 
Frank  Clifford  (Big-Foot  Wallace),  and 
Lon  Chambers.  We  were  armed  to  the 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  95 

teeth,  and  had  four  large  mules  to  draw 
the  mess-wagon,  driven  by  the  Mexican 
cook,  Francisco. 

Bob  Eoberson  was  in  charge  of  five 
riders  and  a  mess- wagon. 

At  our  camp,  west  of  Anton  Chico, 
Pat  Garrett  met  us,  and  we  agreed  to 
loan  him  a  few  of  our  "warriors."  The 
writer  turned  over  to  him  three  men, 
Jim  East,  Lon  Chambers  and  Lee  Hall. 
Bob  Eoberson  turned  over  to  him  three 
cowboys,  Tom  Emmory,  Bob  Williams, 
and  Louis  Bozeman. 

We  then  continued  our  journey  to 
White  Oaks  in  a  raging  snow  storm. 

Pat  Garrett  started  down  the  Pecos 
river  with  his  crew,  consisting  of  our  six 
cowboys,  his  brother-in-law,  Barney  Ma- 
son, and  Frank  Stewart,  who  had  been 
acting  as  detective  for  the  Panhandle 
cattlemen's  association. 

At  Fort  Sumner,  Pat  Garrett  depu- 


96  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

tized  Charlie  Rudolph  and  a  few  Mexi- 
can friends,  to  join  the  crowd  which 
now  numbered  about  thirteen  men. 

Finding  that  the  "Kid"  and  party 
had  been  in  Fort  Sumner,  and  made  the 
old  abandoned  United  States  Hospital 
building,  where  lived  Charlie  Bowdre 
and  his  half-breed  Mexican  wife,  their 
headquarters,  Pat  Garrett  concluded  to 
camp  there.  He  figured  that  the  out- 
laws would  return  and  visit  Mrs.  Char- 
lie Bowdre,  whose  husband  was  one  of 
the  outlaw  band. 

In  order  to  get  a  true  record  of  the 
capture  of  "Billy  the  Kid"  and  gang, 
the  author  wrote  to  James  H.  East,  of 
Douglas,  Arizona,  for  the  facts.  Jim 
East  is  the  only  known  living  partici- 
pant in  that  tragic  event.  His  reputa- 
tion for  honesty  and  truthfulness  is 
above  par  wherever  he  is  known.  He 
served  eight  years  as  sheriff  of  Oldham 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  97 

County,  Texas,  at  Tascosa,  and  was  city 

marshal  for  several   years  in   Douglas, 

Arizona. 

Herewith  his  letter  to  the   writer  is 

printed  in  full  : 

"Douglas,  Arizona, 

May  1st,  1920. 
Dear  Charlie : 

Yours  of  the  29th  received,  and 
contents  noted.  I  will  try  to  answer 
your  questions,  but  you  know  after 
a  lapse  of  forty  years,  one's  mem- 
ory may  slip  a  cog.  First :  We  were 
quartered  in  the  old  Government 
Hospital  building  in  Ft.  Sumner, 
the  night  of  the  first  fight.  Lon 
Chambers  was  on  guard.  Our  horses 
were  in  Pete  Maxwell's  stable. 
Sheriff  Pat  Garrett,  Tom  Emory, 
Bob  Williams,  and  Barney  Mason 
were  playing  poker  on  a  blanket  on 
the  floor. 


98  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

I  had  just  laid  down  on  my  blank- 
et in  the  corner,  when  Chambers 
ran  in  and  told  us  that  the  'Kid' 
and  his  gang  were  coining.  It  was 
about  eleven  o'clock  at  night.  We 
all  grabbed  our  guns  and  stepped 
out  in  the  yard. 

Just  then  the  ' Kid's'  men  came 
around  the  corner  of  the  old  hospi- 
tal building,  in  front  of  the  room  oc- 
cupied by  Charlie  Bowdre's  woman 
and  her  mother.  Tom  O'Phalliard 
was  riding  in  the  lead.  Garrett 
yelled  out:  '  Throw  up  your 
hands!"  But  O'Phalliard  jerked 
his  pistol.  Then  the  shooting  com- 
menced. It  being  dark,  the  shoot- 
ing was  at  random. 

Tom  O'Phalliard  was  shot 
through  the  body,  near  the  heart, 
and  lost  control  of  his  horse.  'Kid' 
and  the  rest  of  his  men  whirled 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  99 

their  horses  and  ran  up  the  road. 

O'Phalliard's  horse  came  up  near 
us,  and  Tom  said:  *  Don't  shoot  any 
more,  I  am  dying. '  We  helped  him 
off  his  horse  and  took  him  in,  and 
laid  him  down  on  my  blanket.  Pat 
and  the  other  boys  then  went  back 
to  playing  poker. 

I  got  Tom  some  water.  He  then 
cussed  Garrett  and  died,  in  about 
thirty  minutes  after  being  shot. 

The  horse  that  Dave  Eudabaugh 
was  riding  was  shot,  but  not  killed 
instantly.  We  found  the  dead  horse 
the  next  day  on  the  trail,  about  one 
mile  or  so  east  of  Ft.  Sumner. 

After  Dave's  horse  fell  down 
from  loss  of  blood,  he  got  up  behind 
Billy  Wilson,  and  they  all  went  to 
Wilcox's  ranch  that  night. 

The  next  morning  a  big  snow 
storm  set  in  and  put  out  their  trail, 


100  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

so  we  laid  over  in  Simmer  and  bur- 
ied TomOThalliard. 

The  next  night,  after  the  fight, 
it  cleared  off  and  about  midnight, 
Mr.  Wilcox  rode  in  and  reported  to 
us  that  the  "Kid,"  Dave  Ruda- 
baugh,  Billy  Wilson,  Tom  Pickett, 
and  Charlie  Bowdre,  had  eaten  sup- 
per at  his  ranch  about  dark,  then 
pulled  out  for  the  little  rock  house 
at  Stinking  Spring.  So  we  saddled 
up  and  started  about  one  o  'clock  in 
the  morning. 

We  got  to  the  rock  house  just  be- 
fore daylight.  Our  horses  were  left 
with  Frank  Stewart  and  some  of 
the  other  boys  under  guard,  while 
Garrett  took  Lee  Hall,  Tom  Emory 
and  myself  with  him.  We  crawled 
up  the  arroyo  to  within  about 
thirty  feet  of  the  door,  where  we 
lav  down  in  the  snow. 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  101 

There  was  no  window  in  this 
house,  and  only  one  door,  which  we 
would  cover  with  our  guns. 

The  "Bad"  had  taken  his  race 
mare  into  the  house,  but  the  other 
three  horses  were  standing  near 
the  door,  hitched  by  ropes  to  the 
vega  poles. 

Just  as  day  began  to  show,  Char- 
lie Bowdre  came  out  to  feed  his 
horse,  I  suppose,  for  he  had  a  moral 
in  one  hand.  Garrett  told  him  to 
throw  up  his  hands,  but  he  grabbed 
at  his  six-shooter.  Then  Garrett 
and  Lee  Hall  both  shot  him  in  the 
breast.  Emory  and  I  didn't  shoot, 
for  there  was  no  use  to  waste  am- 
munition then. 

Charlie  turned  and  went  into  the 
house,  and  we  heard  the  'Kid'  say 
to  him:  *  Charlie,  you  are  done  for. 
Go  out  and  see  if  you  can't  get  one 


102  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

of  the  s — of — b's  before  you  die." 

Charlie  then  walked  out  with  his 
hand  on  his  pistol,  but  was  unable 
to  shoot.  We  didn't  shoot,  for  we 
could  see  he  was  about  dead.  He 
stumbled  and  fell  on  Lee  Hall.  He 
started  to  speak,  but  the  words  died 
with  him. 

Now  Garrett,  Lee,  Tom  and  I, 
fired  several  shots  at  the  ropes 
which  held  the  horses,  and  cut  them 
loose — all  but  one  horse  which  was 
half  way  in  the  door.  Garrett  shot 
him  down,  and  that  blocked  the 
door,  so  the  'Kid'  could  not  make 
a  wolf  dart  on  his  mare. 

We  then  held  a  medicine  talk 
with  the  Kid,  but  of  course  couldn't 
see  him.  Garrett  asked  him  to  give 
up,  Billy  answered : '  Go  to  h — 1,  you 
long-legged  s —  of  a  b!" 

Garrett  then  told    Tom    Emory 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  103 

and  I  to  go  around  to  the  other  side 
of  the  house,  as  we  could  hear  them 
trying  to  pick  out  a  port-hole.  Then 
we  took  it,  time  about,  guarding  the 
house  all  that  day.  When  nearly 
sundown,  we  saw  a  white  handker- 
chief on  a  stick,  poked  out  of  the 
chimney.  Some  of  us  crawled  up 
the  arroyo  near  enough  to  talk  to 
*  Billy.'  He  said  they  had  no  show 
to  get  away,  and  wanted  to  surren- 
der, if  we  would  give  our  word  not 
to  fire  into  them,  when  they  came 
out.  We  gave  the  promise,  and 
they  came  out  with  their  hands  up, 
but  that  traitor,  Barney  Mason, 
raised  his  gun  to  shoot  the  'Kid,' 
when  Lee  Hall  and  I  covered  Bar- 
ney and  told  him  to  drop  his  gun, 
which  he  did. 

Now  we  took  the  prisoners   and 
the  body  of  Charlie  Bowdre  to  the 


104  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

Wilcox  ranch,  where  we  stayed  un- 
til next  day.  Then  to  Ft.  Sumner, 
where  we  delivered  the  body  of 
Bowdre  to  his  wife.  Garrett  asked 
Louis  Bousman  and  I  to  take  Bow- 
dre in  the  house  to  his  wife.  As 
we  started  in  with  him,  she  struck 
me  over  the  head  with  a  branding 
iron,  and  I  had  to  drop  Charlie  at 
her  feet.  The  poor  woman  was 
crazy  with  grief.  I  always  regret- 
ted the  death  of  Charlie  Bowdre, 
for  he  was  a  brave  man,  and  true  to 
his  friends  to  the  last. 

Before  we  left  Ft.  Sumner  with 
the  prisoners  for  Santa  Fe,  the 
'Kid'  asked  Garrett  to  let  Tom  Em- 
ory and  I  go  along  as  guards,  which, 
as  you  know,  he  did. 

The  'Kid'  made  me  a  present  of 
his  Winchester  rifle,  but  old  Beaver 
Smith  made  such  a  roar  about  an 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  105 

account  he  said  ' Billy'  o\ved  him, 
that  at  the  request  of  ' Billy,'  I  gave 
old  Beaver  the  gun.  I  wish  now  I 
had  kept  it. 

On  the  road  to  Santa  Fe,  the 
'Kid'  told  Garrett  this:  That  those 
who  live  by  the  sword,  die  by  the 
sword.  Part  of  that  prophecy  has 
come  true.  Pat  Garrett  got  his,  but 
I  am  still  alive. 

I  must  close.    You  may  use  any 

quotations    from    my    letters,    for 

they  are  true.     Good  luck  to  you. 

Mrs.  East  joins  me  in  best  wishes. 

Sincerely  yours, 

JAS.  H.  EAST." 

The  author  had  previously  written  to 
Jim  East  about  "Billy  the  Kid's" 
sweetheart,  Miss  Dulcinea  del  Toboso. 
Here  is  a  quotation  from  his  answer,  of 
April  26th,  1920:  "Your  recollection  of 


106  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

Dulcinea  del  Toboso,  about  tallies  with 
the  way  I  remember  her.  She  was  rather 
stout,  built  like  her  mother,  but  not  so 
dark. 

"After  we  captured  < Billy  the  Kid'  at 
Arroyo  Tivan,  we  took  him,  Dave  Euda- 
baugh,  Billy  Wilson,  and  Tom  Pickett — 
also  the  dead  body  of  Charlie  Bowdre — 
to  Fort  Sumner. 

"  After  dinner  Mrs.  Toboso  sent  over 
an  old  Navajo  woman  to  ask  Pat  Gar- 
rett  to  let  '  Billy'  come  over  to  the  house 
and  see  them  before  taking  him  to  Santa 
Fe.  So  Garrett  told  Lee  Hall  and  I  to 
guard  ' Billy'  and  Dave  Rudebough  over 
to  Toboso 's,  Dave  and  ' Billy'  being 
shackled  together.  As  we  went  over  the 
lock  on  Dave's  leg  came  loose,  and  'Bil- 
ly' being  very  superstitious,  said:  'That 
is  a  bad  sign.  I  will  die,  and  Dave  will 
go  free,'  which,  as  you  know,  proved 
true. 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  107 

4  *  When  we  went  in  the  house  only 
Mrs.  Toboso,  Dulcinea,  and  the  old  Na- 
vajo  woman  were  there. 

"Mrs.  Toboso  asked  Hall  and  I  to  let 
*  Billy'  and  Dulcinea  go  into  another 
room  and  talk  awhile,  but  we  did  not  do 
so,  for  it  was  only  a  stall  of  '  Billy  V  to 
make  a  run  for  liberty,  and  the  old  lady 
and  the  girl  were  willing  to  further  the 
scheme.  The  lovers  embraced,  and  she 
gave  *  Billy'  one  of  those  soul  kisses  the 
novelists  tell  us  about,  till  it  being  time 
to  hit  the  trail  for  Vegas,  we  had  to  pull 
them  apart,  much  against  our  wishes, 
for  you  know  all  the  world  loves  a  lov- 
er." 

It  was  December  23rd,  1880,  when 
the  "Kid"  and  gang,  Dave  Rudebaugh, 
Tom  Pickett  and  Billy  Wilson — were 
captured,  and  Charlie  Bowdre  killed. 

The  prisoners  were  taken  to  the  near- 
est railroad,  at  Las  Vegas,  where  a  mob 


108  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

tried  to  take  them  away  from  the  posse, 
to  string  them  up. 

They  were  placed  in  the  County  jail 
at  Santa  Fe,  the  capital  of  the  Territory 
of  New  Mexico,  as  the  penitentiary  was 
not  yet  completed. 

Dave  Rudebaugh  was  tried  and  sen- 
tenced to  death  for  the  killing  of  the  jail- 
er in  Las  Vegas.  Later  he  made  his  es- 
cape and  has  never  been  heard  of  since. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

" BILLY  THE  KID"  IS  SENTENCED 
TO  HANG.  HE  KILLS  HIS  TWO 
GUARDS  AND  MAKES  GOOD 
HIS  ESCAPE. 

In  the  latter  part  of  February,  1881, 
"Billy  the  Kid"  was  taken  to  Mesilla  to 
be  tried  for  the  murder  of  Roberts  at 
Blazer's  saw  mill.  Judge  Bristol  presid- 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  109 

ed  over  the  District  Court,  and  assigned 
Ira  E.  Leonard  to  defend  the  "Kid." 
He  was  acquitted  for  the  murder  of  Rob- 
erts. 

In  the  same  term  of  court,  the  '  '  Kid 9 ' 
was  put  on  trial  for  the  murder  of  Sher- 
iff Wm.  Brady,  in  April,  1878.  This 
time  he  was  convicted,  and  sentenced  to 
hang  on  the  13th  day  of  May,  1881,  in 
the  Court  House  yard  in  Lincoln. 

Deputy  United  States  Marshall,  Rob- 
ert Ollinger,  and  Deputy  Sheriff  David 
Wood,  drove  the  "Kid"  in  a  covered 
back  to  Fort  Stanton,  and  turned  him 
over  to  Sheriff  Pat  Garrett. 

As  Lincoln  had  no  suitable  jail,  an  up- 
stairs room  in  the  large  adobe  Court 
House  was  selected  as  the  "Kid's"  last 
home  on  earth — as  the  officers  sup- 
posed, but  fate  decided  otherwise. 

Bob  Ollinger  and  J.  W.  Bell  were  se- 
lected to  guard  "Billy  the  Kid"  until 


110  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

the  time  came  for  shutting  off  his  wind 
with  a  rope. 

The  room  selected  for  the  "Bad's" 
home  was  large,  and  in  the  northeast 
corner  of  the  building,  upstairs.  There 
were  two  windows  in  it,  one  on  the  east 
side  and  the  other  on  the  north,  front- 
ing the  main  street. 

In  order  to  get  out  of  this  room  one 
had  to  pass  through  a  hall  into  another 
room,  where  a  back  stairs  led  down  to 
the  rear  yard. 

In  a  room  in  the  southwest  corner  of 
the  building,  the  surplus  firearms  were 
kept,  in  a  closet,  or  armory.  One  room 
was  assigned  as  the  Sheriff's  private 
office. 

The  ' '  Kid 's ' J  furniture  consisted  of  a 
pair  of  steel  hand-cuffs,  steel  shackles 
for  his  legs,  a  stool,  and  a  cot. 

Bob  Ollinger,  the  chief  guard,  was  a 
large,  powerful  middle-aged  man,  with 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  111 

a  mean  disposition.  He  and  the  "Kid" 
were  bitter  enemies  on  account  of  hav- 
ing killed  warm  friends  of  each  other 
during  the  bloody  Lincoln  County  war. 
It  is  said  that  Ollinger  shot  one  of  the 
"Kid's"  friends  to  death  while  holding 
his  right  hand  with  his,  Ollinger 's,  left 
hand.  After  this  local  war  had  ended, 
the  fellow  stepped  up  to  Ollinger  to 
shake  hands  and  to  bury  the  hatchet  of 
former  hatred.  Ollinger  extended  his 
left  hand,  and  grabbed  the  man's  right, 
holding  it  fast  until  he  had  shot  him  to 
death.  Of  course  this  cowardly  act  left 
a  scar  on  "Billy  the  Kid's"  heart,  which 
only  death  could  heal. 

J.  W.  Bell  was  a  tall,  slender  man  of 
middle  age,  with  a  large  knife  scar 
across  one  cheek.  He  had  come  from  San 
Antonio,  Texas.  He  held  a  grudge 
against  the  "Kid"  for  the  killing  of  his 


112  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

friend,  Jimmie  Carlyle,  otherwise  there 
was  no  enmity  between  them. 

In  the  latter  part  of  April,  Cowboy 
Charlie  Wall  had  four  Mexicans  helping 
him  irrigate  an  alfalfa  field,  above  the 
Mexican  village  of  Tularosa,  on  Tula- 
rosa  river. 

A  large  band  of  Tularosa  Mexicans 
appeared  on  the  scene  one  morning,  to 
prevent  young  Wall  from  using  water 
for  his  thirsty  alfalfa. 

When  the  smoke  of  battle  cleared 
away,  four  Tularosa  Mexicans  lay  dead 
on  the  ground  and  Charlie  Wall  had  two 
bullet  wounds  in  his  body,  though  they 
were  not  dangerous  wounds. 

Now,  to  prevent  being  mobbed  by  the 
angry  citizens  of  Tularosa,  which  was 
just  over  the  line  in  Dona  Ana  County, 
Wall  and  his  helpers  made  a  run,  on 
horseback,  for  Lincoln,  to  surrender  to 
Sheriff  Pat  Garrett. 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  113 

The  Sheriff  allowed  them  to  wear 
their  pistols  and  to  sleep  in  the  old  jail. 
At  meal  times  they  accompanied  either 
Bob  Ollinger  or  J.  W.  Bell,  to  the  Ellis 
Hotel  across  the  main  street,  which  ran 
east  and  west  through  town. 

Charlie  Wall  did  his  loafing  while  re- 
covering from  his  bullet  wounds,  in  the 
room  where  the  "Kid"  was  kept. 

On  the  morning  of  April  28th,  1881, 
Sheriff  Garrett  prepared  to  leave  for 
White  Oaks,  thirty-five  miles  north,  to 
have  a  scaffold  made  to  hang  the  ' i  Kid ' ' 
on.  Before  starting,  he  went  into  the 
room  where  the  "Kid"  sat  on  his  stool, 
guarded  by  Ollinger,  who  was  having  a 
friendly  chat  with  Charlie  Wall — the 
man  who  gave  the  writer  the  full  details 
of  the  affair.  J.  W.  Bell  was  also  pres- 
ent in  the  room. 

Garrett  remarked  to  the  two  guards: 
"Say,  boys,  you  must  keep  a  close  watch 


114  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

on  the  'Kid,'  as  he  has  only  a  few  more 
days  to  live,  and  might  make  a  break  for 
liberty. " 

Bob  Ollinger  answered:  " Don't  wor- 
ry, Pat,  we  will  watch  him  like  a  goat. ' ' 

Now  Ollinger  stepped  into  the  other 
room  and  got  his  double-barrel  shot 
gun.  With  the  gun  in  his  hand,  and  look- 
ing towards  the  ' '  Kid, ' '  he  said : ' '  There 
are  eighteen  buckshot  in  each  barrel, 
and  I  reckon  the  man  who  gets  them  will 
feel  it. " 

With  a  smile,  " Billy  the  Kid"  re- 
marked: "You  may  be  the  one  to  get 
them  yourself." 

Now  Ollinger  put  the  gun  back  in  the 
armory,  locking  the  door,  putting  the 
key  in  his  pocket.  Then  Garrett  left  for 
White  Oaks. 

About  five  o  'clock  in  the  evening,  Bob 
Ollinger  took  Charlie  Wall  and  the  other 
four  armed  prisoners  to  the  Ellis  Hotel, 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  115 

across  the  street,  for  supper.  Bell  was 
left  to  guard  the  "Kid." 

According  to  the  story  "Billy  the 
Kid"  told  Mrs.  Charlie  Bowdre,  and 
other  friends,  after  his  escape,  he  had 
been  starving  himself  so  that  he  could 
slip  his  left  hand  out  of  the  steel  cuff. 
The  guards  thought  he  had  lost  his  ap- 
petite from  worry  over  his  approaching 
death. 

J.  W.  Bell  sat  on  a  chair,  facing  the 
"Kid,"  several  paces  away.  He  was 
reading  a  newspaper.  The  "Kid"  slip- 
ped his  left  hand  out  of  the  cuff  and 
made  a  spring  for  the  guard,  striking 
him  over  the  head  with  the  steel  cuff. 
Bell  threw  up  both  hands  to  shield  his 
head  from  another  blow.  Then  the 
"Kid"  jerked  Bell's  pistol  out  of  its 
scabbard.  Now  Bell  ran  out  of  the  door 
and  received  a  bullet  from  his  own  pis- 
tol. The  body  of  Bell  tumbled  down  the 


116  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

back  stairs,  falling  on  the  jailer,  a  Ger- 
man by  the  name  of  Geiss,  who  was  sit- 
ting at  the  foot  of  the  stairs. 

Of  course  Geiss  stampeded.  He  flew 
out  of  the  gate  towards  the  Ellis  Hotel. 

On  hearing  the  shot,  Bob  Ollinger  and 
the  five  armed  prisoners,  got  up  from 
the  supper  table  and  ran  to  the  street. 
Charlie  Wall  and  the  four  Mexicans 
stopped  on  the  sidewalk,  while  Ollinger 
continued  to  run  towards  the  court 
house. 

After  killing  Bell,  the  "Kid"  broke 
in  the  door  to  the  armory  and  secured 
Ollinger  ?s  shot-gun.  Then  he  hobbled  to 
the  open  window  facing  the  hotel. 

When  in  the  middle  of  the  street,  Ol- 
linger met  the  stampeded  jailer,  and  as 
he  passed,  he  said:  "Bell  has  killed  the 
"Kid."  This  caused  Ollinger  to  quit 
running.  He  walked  the  balance  of  the 
way. 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  117 

When  directly  under  the  window,  the 
'  '  Kid J '  stuck  his  head  out,  saying : '  '  Hel- 
lo, Bob! " 

Ollinger  looked  up  and  saw  his  own 
shotgun  pointed  at  him.  He  said,  in  a 
voice  loud  enough  to  be  heard  by  Wall 
and  the  other  prisoners  across  the 
street:  "Yes,  he  has  killed  me,  too!" 

These  words  were  hardly  out  of  the 
guard's  mouth  when  the  "Kid"  fired  a 
charge  of  buckshot  into  his  heart. 

Now  "Billy  the  Kid"  hobbled  back  to 
the  armory  and  buckled  around  his 
waist  two  belts  of  cartridges  and  two 
Colt's  pistols.  Then  taking  a  Winches- 
ter rifle  in  his  hand,  he  hobbled  back  to 
the  shot  gun,  which  he  picked  up.  He 
then  went  out  on  the  small  porch  in  front 
of  the  building.  Beaching  over  the 
ballisters  with  the  shotgun,  he  fired  the 
other  charge  into  Ollinger 's  body.  Then 
breaking  the  shotgun  in  two,  across  the 


118  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

ballisters,  he  threw  the  pieces  at  the 
corpse,  saying : ' '  Take  that,  you  s —  of  a 
b — ,  you  will  never  follow  me  with  that 
gun  again." 

Now  the  "Kid"  hailed  the  jailer,  old 
man  Geiss,  and  told  him  to  throw  up  a 
file,  which  he  did.  Then  the  chain  hold- 
ing his  feet  close  together  was  filed  in 
two. 

When  his  legs  were  free,  the  "Kid" 
danced  a  jig  on  the  little  front  porch, 
where  many  people,  who  had  run  out  to 
the  sidewalk  across  the  street,  on  hear- 
ing the  shots,  were  witnesses  to  this  free 
show,  which  couldn't  be  beat  for  money. 

Geiss  was  hailed  again  and  told  to 
saddle  up  Billy  Burt's,  the  Deputy 
County  Clerk's,  black  pony  and  bring 
him  out  on  the  street.  This  black  pony 
had  formerly  belonged  to  the  "Kid." 

When  the  pony  stood  on  the  street, 
ready  for  the  last  act,  the  "Kid"  went 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  119 

down  the  back  stairs,  stepping  over  the 
dead  body  of  Bell,  and  started  to  mount. 
Being  encumbered  with  the  weight  of 
two  pistols,  two  belts  full  of  ammunition, 
and  the  rifle,  the  "Kid"  was  thrown  to 
the  ground,  when  the  pony  began  buck- 
ing, before  he  had  got  into  the  saddle. 

Now  the  "Kid"  faced  the  crowd 
across  the  street,  holding  the  rifle  ready 
for  action. 

Charlie  Wall  told  the  writer  that  he 
could  have  killed  him  with  his  pistol,  but 
that  he  wanted  to  see  him  escape.  Many 
other  men  in  the  crowd  felt  the  same 
way,  no  doubt. 

When  the  pony  was  brought  back  the 
"Kid"  gave  Geiss  his  rifle  to  hold, 
while  he  mounted.  The  rifle  being  hand- 
ed back  to  him  when  he  was  securely 
seated  in  the  saddle,  then  he  du#  the 
pony  in  the  sides  with  his  heels,  and  gal- 
loped west.  At  the  edge  of  town  he 


120  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

waved  his  hat  over  his  head,  yelling: 
"Three  cheers  for  Billy  the  Kid!"  Now 
the  curtain  went  down,  for  the  time  be- 
ing. 

CHAPTER  X. 

"BILLY  THE  KID"  GOES  BACK  TO 
HIS  SWEETHEART  IN  FORT 
SUMNER.  SHOTTHROUGHTHE 
HEART  BY  SHERIFF  PAT  GAR- 
RET, AND  BURIED  BY  THE 
SIDE  OF  HIS  CHUM,  TOM 
O'PHALLIARD. 

A  few  days  after  the  "Kid's"  escape, 
Billy  Burt's  black  pony  returned  to  Lin- 
coln dragging  a  rope.  He  had  either  es- 
caped or  been  turned  loose  by  the 
"Kid." 

The  next  we  hear  of  the  "Kid"  he 
visited  friends  in  Las  Tablas,  and  stole 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  121 

a  horse  from  Andy  Richardson.  From 
there  he  headed  for  Port  Sumner  to  see 
his  sweetheart,  Miss  Dulcinea  del  Tobo- 
so.  It  was  said  he  tried  to  persuade  her 
to  run  away  with  him,  and  go  to  old 
Mexico  to  live  in  happiness  ever  after- 
ward. But  that  sweet  little  Dulce  re- 
fused to  leave  mamma. 

The  "Kid"  found  shelter  and  con- 
cealment in  the  home  of  Mrs.  Charlie 
Bowdre  and  her  mother.  One  night  a 
few  weeks  after  his  escape,  the  writer 
was  within  whispering  distance  of  ' '  Bil- 
ly the  Kid. " 

Myself  and  a  crowd  of  cowboys  had 
attended  a  Mexican  dance.  Mrs.  Charlie 
Bowdre  was  there,  dressed  like  a  young 
princess.  She  captured  the  heart  of  the 
author,  so  that  he  danced  with  her  often, 
and  escorted  her  to  the  midnight  supper. 

About  three  o'clock  in  the  morning 
the  dance  broke  up  and  the  writer  escort- 


122  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

ed  the  pretty  young  widow,  Mrs.  Charlie 
Bowdre,  to  her  adobe  home.  At  the  front 
door,  I  almost  got  down  on  my  knees 
pleading  for  her  to  let  me  go  into  the 
house  and  talk  awhile,  but  no  use,  she  in- 
sisted that  her  mother  would  object. 

Now  a  wine-soaked  young  cowboy 
with  jingling  spurs  on  his  high-heel 
boots,  staggered  into  camp  and  " piled" 
into  bed,  spread  on  the  ground  under  a 
cottonwood  tree,  to  dream  of  Mexican 
"Fandangos,"  where  the  girls  have  no 
choice  of  partners.  Without  an  introduc- 
tion the  man  walks  up  to  the  girl  of  his 
choice  and  leads  her  out  on  the  floor  to 
dance  to  his  heart's  content. 

About  six  months  later,  in  the  fall  of 
1881,  after  the  "Kid"  had  been  killed, 
the  writer  was  in  Fort  Sumner  again, 
and  attended  a  dance  with  Mrs.  Charlie 
Bowdre.  Now  she  explained  the  reason 
for  not  letting  me  enter  the  house.  She 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  123 

said  at  that  time,  " Billy  the  Kid,"  who 
was  in  hiding  at  her  home,  was  on  the 
inside  of  the  door  listening  to  our  con- 
versation. That  he  recognized  my  voice. 

Here  Mrs.  Bowdre  told  me  the  facts 
in  the  case,  of  how  " Billy  the  Kid"  met 
his  death,  bare-headed  and  bare-footed, 
with  a  butcher  knife  in  his  hand. 

While  in  hiding  in  Fort  Sunnier  the 
"Kid"  stole  a  saddle  horse  from  Mr. 
Montgomery  Bell,  who  had  ridden  into 
town  from  his  ranch  fifty  miles  above, 
on  the  Rio  Pecos. 

Bell  supposed  the  horse  had  been  rid- 
den off  by  a  common  Mexican  thief.  He 
hired  Barney  Mason  and  a  Mr.  Curing- 
ton  to  go  with  him  to  hunt  the  animal. 
They  started  down  the  stream,  Bell 
keeping  on  one  side  of  the  river,  while 
Mason  and  Curington  headed  for  a 
sheep  camp  in  the  foot  hills. 

Riding  up  to   the   tent  in   the   sheep 


124  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

camp,  the  "Kid"  stepped  out  with  his 
Winchester  rifle,  and  hailed  them. 

Barney  Mason  was  armed  to  the  teeth, 
and  was  on  a  swift  horse.  He  had  on  a 
new  pair  of  spurs  and  nearly  wore  them 
out  making  his  get-away. 

Mr.  Curington  rode  up  to  his  friend, 
"Billy  the  Kid,"  and  had  a  friendly 
chat. 

The  "Kid"  told  Mr.  Curington  to  tell 
Montgomery  Bell  that  he  would  return 
his  horse,  or  pay  for  him. 

When  Curington  reported  the  matter 
to  Mr.  Bell,  he  was  satisfied  and  search- 
ed no  more  for  the  animal. 

After  the  "Kid's"  escape  from  Lin- 
coln, Sheriff  Pat  Garrett  "laid  low," 
and  tried  to  find  out  the  "Kid's"  where- 
abouts through  his  friends  and  asso- 
ciates. 

In  March,  1881,  a  Deputy  United 
States  Marshal  by  the  name  of  John  W. 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  125 

Poe  arrived  in  the  booming  mining  camp 
of  White  Oaks.  He  had  been  sent  to  New 
Mexico  by  the  Cattlemen's  Association 
of  the  Texas  Panhandle,  Cattle  King 
Charlie  Goodnight,  being  the  president 
of  the  association,  had  selected  Mr.  Poe 
as  the  proper  man  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
stealing  of  Panhandle  cattle  by  "Billy 
the  Kid"  and  gang. 

After  the  " Kid's"  escape,  Pat  Gar- 
rett  went  to  White  Oaks  and  deputized 
John  W.  Poe  to  assist  him  in  rounding 
up  the  "Kid." 

From  now  on  Mr.  Poe  made  trips  out 
in  the  mountains  trying  to  locate  the 
young  outlaw.  The  "Kid's"  best 
friends  argued  that  he  was  "nobody's 
fool,"  and  would  not  remain  in  the 
United  States,  when  the  Old  Mexico  bor- 
der was  so  near.  They  didn't  realize  that 
little  Cupid  was  shooting  his  tender 
young  heart  full  of  love-darts,  straight 


126  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

from  the  heart  of  pretty  little  Miss  Dul- 
cinea  del  Toboso,  of  Fort  Simmer. 

Early  in  July,  Pat  Garrett  received  a 
letter  from  an  acquaintance  by  the  name 
of  Brazil,  in  Fort  Sumner,  advising  him 
that  the  "Kid"  was  hanging  around 
there.  Garrett  at  once  wrote  Brazil  to 
meet  him  about  dark  on  the  night  of  Ju- 
ly 13th  at  the  mouth  of  the  Taiban  ar- 
royo,  below  Fort  Sumner. 

Now  the  sheriff  took  his  trusted  depu- 
ty, John  W.  Poe,  and  rode  to  Roswell, 
on  the  Eio  Pecos.  There  they  were 
joined  by  one  of  Mr.  Garret's  fearless 
cowboy  deputies,  "Kip"  McKinnie,  who 
had  been  raised  near  Uvalde,  Texas. 

Together  the  three  law  officers  rode 
up  the  river  towards  Fort  Sumner,  a 
distance  of  eighty  miles.  They  arrived 
at  the  mouth  of  Taiban  arroyo  an  hour 
after  dark  on  July  13th,  but  Brazil  was 
not  there  to  meet  them.  The  night  was 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  127 

spent  sleeping  on  their  saddle  blankets. 

The  next  morning  Garrett  sent  Mr. 
Poe,  who  was  a  stranger  in  the  country, 
and  for  that  reason  would  not  be  suspi- 
cioned,  into  Fort  Sumner,  five  miles 
north,  to  find  out  what  he  could  on  the 
sly,  about  the  "Kid's"  presence.  From 
Fort  Sumner  he  was  to  go  to  Sunny 
Side,  six  miles  north,  to  interview  a  mer- 
chant by  the  name  of  Mr.  Rudolph.  Then 
when  the  moon  was  rising,  to  meet  Gar- 
rett and  McKirinie  at  La  Punta  de  la 
Glorietta,  about  four  miles  north  of  Fort 
Sumner. 

Failing  to  find  out  anything  of  im- 
portance about  the  "Kid,"  John  W. 
Poe  met  his  two  companions  at  the  ap- 
pointed place,  and  they  rode  into  Fort 
Sumner. 

It  was  about  eleven  o'clock,  and  the 
moon  was  shining  brightly,  when  the  of- 
ficers rode  into  an  old  orchard  and  con- 


128  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

cealed  their  horses.  Now  the  three  con- 
tinued afoot  to  the  home  of  Pete  Max- 
well, a  wealthy  stockman,  who  was  a 
friend  to  both  Garrett  and  the  "Kid." 
He  lived  in  a  long,  one-story  adobe 
building,  which  had  been  the  U.  S.  offi- 
cers' quarters  when  the  soldiers  were 
stationed  there.  The  house  fronted 
south,  and  had  a  wide  covered  porch  in 
front.  The  grassy  front  yard  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  picket  fence. 

As  Pat  Garrett  had  courted  his  wife 
and  married  her  in  this  town,  he  knew 
every  foot  of  the  ground,  even  to  Pete 
Maxwell's  private  bed  room. 

On  reaching  the  picket  gate,  near  the 
corner  room,  which  Pete  Maxwell  al- 
ways occupied,  Garrett  told  his  two 
deputies  to  wait  there  until  after  he  had 
a  talk  with  half-breed  Pete  Maxwell. 

The  night  being  hot,  Pete  Maxwell's 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  129 

door  stood  wide  open,  and  Garrett 
walked  in. 

A  short  time  previous,  "Billy  the 
Kid"  had  arrived  from  a  sheep  camp 
out  in  the  hills.  Back  of  the  Maxwell 
home  lived  a  Mexican  servant,  who  was 
a  warm  friend  to  the  "Kid."  Here  "Bil- 
ly the  Kid"  always  found  late  newspa- 
pers, placed  there  by  loving  hands,  for 
his  special  benefit. 

This  old  servant  had  gone  to  bed.  The 

Kid"  lit  a  lamp,  then  pulled  off  his 
coat  and  boots.  Now  he  glanced  over  the 
papers  to  see  if  his  name  was  mentioned. 
Finding  nothing  of  interest  in  the  news- 
papers, he  asked  the  old  servant  to  get 
up  and  cook  him  some  supper,  as  he  was 
very  hungry. 

Getting  up,  the  servant  told  him  there 
was  no  meat  in  the  house.  The  "Kid" 
remarked  that  he  would  go  and  get  some 
from  Pete  Maxwell. 


< . 


130  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

Now  he  picked  up  a  butcher  knife 
from  the  table  to  cut  the  meat  with,  and 
started,  bare-footed  and  bare-headed. 

The  "Kid"  passed  within  a  few  feet 
of  the  end  of  the  porch  where  sat  John 
W.  Poe  and  Kip  McKinnie.  The  latter 
had  raised  up,  when  his  spur  ratled, 
which  attracted  the  "Kid's"  attention. 
At  the  same  moment  Mr.  Poe  stood  up 
in  the  small  open  gateway  leading  from 
the  street  to  the  end  of  the  porch.  They 
supposed  the  man  coming  towards  them, 
only  partly  dressed,  was  a  servant,  or 
possibly  Pete  Maxwell. 

The  "Kid"  had  pulled  his  pistol,  and 
so  had  John  Poe,  who  by  that  time  was 
almost  within  arm's  reach  of  the  "Kid." 

With  pistol  pointing  at  Poe,  at  the 
same  time  asking  in  Spanish:  "Quien 
es?"  (Who  is  that?),  he  backed  in- 
to Pete  Maxwell's  room.  He  had  re- 
peated the  above  question  several  times. 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  131 

On  entering  the  room,  "  Billy  the 
Kid7'  walked  up  to  within  a  few  feet  of 
Pat  Garrett,  who  was  sitting  on  Max- 
well's bed,  and  asked:  "Who  are  they, 
Pete!" 

Now  discovering  that  a  man  sat  on 
Pete's  bed,  the  "Kid"  with  raised  pis- 
tol pointing  towards  the  bed,  began 
backing  across  the  room. 

Pete  Maxwell  whispered  to  the  sher- 
iff:  "That's  him,  Pat."  By  this  time 
the  "Kid"  had  backed  to  a  streak  of 
monlight  coming  through  the  south  win- 
dow, asking:  "Qtiien  EsT"  (Who'd 
that!) 

Garrett  raised  his  pistol  and  fired. 
Then  cocked  the  pistol  again  and  it  went 
off  accidentally,  putting  a  hole  in  the 
ceiling,  or  wall. 

Now  the  sheriff  sprang  out  of  the  door 
onto  the  porch,  where  stood  his  two 
deputies  with  drawn  pistols. 


132  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

Soon  after,  Pete  Maxwell  ran  out,  and 
came  very  near  getting  a  ball  from  Poe  's 
pistol.  Garrett  struck  the  pistol  upward, 
saying:  " Don't  shoot  Maxwell!" 

A  lighted  candle  was  secured  from 
the  mother  of  Pete  Maxwell,  who  occu- 
pied a  nearby  room,  and  the  dead  body 
of  " Billy  the  Kid"  was  found  stretched 
out  on  his  back  with  a  bullet  wound  in 
his  breast,  just  above  the  heart.  At  the 
right  hand  lay  a  Colt's  41  calibre  pistol, 
and  at  his  left  a  butcher  knife. 

Now  the  native  people  began  to  col- 
lect,— many  of  them  being  warm  friends 
of  the  "Kid's."  Garrett  allowed  them 
to  take  the  body  across  the  street  to  a 
carpenter  shop,  where  it  was  laid  out  on 
a  bench.  Then  lighted  candles  were 
placed  around  the  remains  of  what  was 
once  the  bravest,  and  coolest  young  out- 
law who  ever  trod  the  face  of  the  earth. 

The  next  day,  this,  once  mother's  dar- 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  133 

ling,  was  buried  by  the  side  of  his  chum, 
Tom  OThalliard,  in  the  old  military 
cemetery. 

He  was  killed  at  midnight,  July  14th, 
1881,  being  just  twenty-one  years,  seven 
months  and  twenty-one  days  of  age,  and 
had  killed  twenty-one  men,  not  includ- 
ing Indians,  which  he  said  didn't  count 
as  human  beings. 

A  few  months  after  the  killing  of  the 
<  *  Kid, ' '  a  man  was  coining  money,  show- 
ing " Billy  the  Kid's"  trigger  finger, 
preserved  in  alcohol.  Seeing  sensation- 
al accounts  of  it  in  the  newspapers, 
Sheriff  Garrett  had  the  body  dug  up, 
but  found  his  trigger-finger  was  still 
attached  to  the  right  hand. 

During  the  following  spring  in  the 
town  of  Lincoln,  the  sheriff  auctioned 
off  the  " Kid's"  saddle,  and  the  blue- 
barrel,  rubber-handled,  double  action 


134  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

Colt's  41  calibre  pistol,  which  the  "Kid" 
held  in  his  hand  when  killed. 

There  were  only  two  bidders  for  the 
pistol,  the  writer  and  the  deputy  county 
clerk,  Billy  Burt,  who  got  it  for  $13.50. 
Its  actual  value  was  about  $12.00. 

Since  then  many  pistols  have  been 
prized  as  keepsakes  from  the  supposed 
idea  that  the  "Kid"  had  held  each  one 
of  them  in  his  hand  when  he  fell.  Many 
were  presented  to  friends  with  a  sin- 
cere thought  that  they  were  genuine. 

As  an  illustration  we  will  quote  a  few 
lines  from  a  friendly  letter,  dated  May 
10th,  1920,  written  by  the  present  game 
warden,  Mr.  J.  L.  DeHart  of  the  state 
of  Montana:  "Later  in  March,  1895,  I 
was  ushered  into  office  as  sheriff  of 
Sweet  Grass  County,  Montana,  and  a 
former  resident  of  New  Mexico,  and  an 
acquaintance -of  *  Billy  the  Kid/  later 
a  resident  of  Livingston,  Montana,  by 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  135 

the  name  of  William  Dawson,  upon  this 
momentous  occasion,  presented  me  with 
a  splendid  Colt's  six-shooter,  forty-five 
calibre,  seven  inch  barrel,  and  ivory 
handle,  said  to  have  been  the  property 
of  the  notorious  " Billy  the  Kid,"  when 
killed  by  Sheriff  Pat  Garrett,  at  the 
Maxwell  ranch  house.  I  have  always 
considered  this  piece  of  artillery  a  val- 
uable relic,  and  with  much  trouble  have 
retained  it.  Most  of  my  diligent  watch, 
however,  upon  this  gun,  was  brought 
about  as  a  result  of  being  named  as 
state  game  warden  in  1913,  by  His  Ex- 
cellency, Governor  8.  V.  Stewart." 

i 'Where  ignorance  is  bliss,  it  is  fol- 
ly to  be  wise, "  is  a  true  saying. 

No  doubt  Mr.  DeHart  has  felt  proud 
over  the  ownership  of  the  pistol  "  Billy 
the  Kid"  was  supposed  to  have  in  his 
hand  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

This  is  not  the  onlv  "Billv  the  Kid" 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 


136  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

pistol  in  existence.  It  would  be  a  safe 
gamble  to  bet  that  there  are  a  wagon 
load  of  them  scattered  over  the  United 
States. 

The  Winchester  rifle  taken  from  the 
"Kid"  at  the  time  of  his  capture  at 
Stinking  Spring,  was  raffled  off  in  the 
spring  of  1881,  and  the  writer  won  it. 
He  put  it  up  again  in  a  game  of  '  '  freeze 
out"  poker.  As  one  of  my  cowboys, 
Tom  Emory,  was  an  expert  poker  play- 
er, I  induced  him  to  play  my  hand.  I 
then  went  to  bed.  On  going  down  to 
the  Pioneer  Saloon,  in  White  Oaks,  ear- 
ly next  morning,  the  night  barkeeper 
told  me  a  secret,  under  promise  that  I 
keep  it  to  myself.  He  said  he  was 
stretched  out  on  the  bar  trying  to  take 
a  nap.  The  poker  game  was  going  on 
near  him.  When  he  lay  down  all  had 
been  '  *  f  reezed  out ' '  but  Tom  Emory  and 
Johnny  Hudgens.  Just  before  daylight, 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  137 

Emory  won  all  the  chips,  in  a  big  show 
down,  and  I  was  the  owner  of  "  Billy  the 
Kid's"  rifle  for  the  second  time,  but 
only  for  a  moment,  as  Johnny  Hudgens 
gave  Tom  Emory  $20.00  for  the  gun, 
under  the  pretense  that  Hudgens  had 
won  it.  Emory  almost  shed  tears  when 
he  told  me  of  losing  the  rifle  in  what  lie 
thought  was  a  winning  hand.  Of  course 
I  didn't  dispute  it  ,as  I  had  given  a 
promise  to  keep  silent. 

'  '  Billy  the  Kid"  came  very  near  hav- 
ing a  stone  monument  placed  on  his 
grave  for  the  benefit  of  posterity — so 
that  the  curious  among  the  unborn  gen- 
erations would  know  the  exact  spot 
where  this  "Claude  Duval"  of  the  south- 
west was  planted. 

One  day,  on  the  Plaza  in  the  city  of 
Santa  Fe,  in  about  the  year  1916,  the 
writer  met  Mrs.  Gertrude  Dills,  wife  of 
Lucius  Dills,  the  Surveyor  General  of 


138  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

New  Mexico,  a  daughter  of  Judge  Frank 
Lea  of  White  Oaks,  and  a  niece  to  that 
whole-souled  prince  among  men,  the 
father  of  the  city  of  Roswell,  Captain 
J.  C.  Lea.  She  suggested  that  the  writ- 
er get  up  a  subscription  to  place  a  last- 
ing monument  on  the  grave  of  "  Billy  the 
Kid,"  so  that  future  generations  would 
know  where  he  was  buried.  As  a  little 
girl,  Mrs.  Dills  was  once  tempted  to 
crawl  under  the  bed,  when  "  Billy  the 
Kid"  and  gang  shot  up  the  town  of 
White  Oaks. 

I  at  once  went  to  the  monument  estab- 
lishment of  Mr.  Louis  Napoleon,  and 
selected  a  fine  marble  monument,  with 
the  understanding  that  the  inscription 
not  be  cut  on  it  until  after  I  had  located 
the  grave. 

Many  years  ago,  Will  E.  Griffin,  who 
is  still  a  resident  of  Santa  Fe,  moved  all 
the  bodies  of  the  soldiers  buried  in  the 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  139 

old  military  cemetery,  at  Fort  Sunnier, 
to  the  National  Cemetery  at  Santa  Fe. 
He  says,  when  the  work  was  finished, 
the  only  graves  left  in  the  grave-yard, 
were  those  of  " Billy  the  Kid"  and  his 
chum,  Tom  OThalliard.  On  these  two 
graves,  close  together,  still  remained  the 
badly  rotted  wooden  head  boards. 

Since  then  the  old  cemetery  has  been 
turned  into  an  alfalfa  field,  and  the 
chances  are,  all  signs  of  this  noted  young 
outlaw's  resting  place  have  been  obliter- 
ated. 

Soon  after  selecting  the  monument,  I 
happened  to  be  in  the  town  of  Tularosa, 
and  brought  up  the  subject  to  my  old 
cowboy  friend,  John  P.  Meadows.  He 
at  once  subscribed  five  dollars  towards 
the  erection  of  the  monument.  He  said 
4 'Billy  the  Kid"  had  befriended  him  in 
1879,  when  he  needed  a  friend,  and  for 
that  reason  he  would  like  to  perpetu- 


140  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

ate  his  memory.  He  thought  it  would 
be  no  trouble  to  raise  the  desired  amount 
in  Tularosa,  but  the  first  man  he  struck 
for  a  subscription,  Mr.  Charlie  Miller, 
former  state  engineer,  discouraged  him. 
Mr.  Miller  went  straight  up  in  the  air 
with  indignation  at  the  idea  of  placing 
a  monument  at  the  grave  of  a  blood- 
thirsty outlaw.  Soon  after  this,  Mr. 
Miller  was  murdered,  when  Pancho  Villa 
made  his  bloody  raid  on  Columbus,  New 
Mexico. 

This  is  as  far  as  the  grave  of  "  Billy 
the  Kid"  came  to  being  marked,  as  the 
writer  has  been  too  busy  on  other  mat- 
ters, to  visit  Fort  Sumner  and  try  to 
locate  his  last  resting  place. 

In  closing,  I  wish  to  state  that  with 
all  his  faults,  " Billy  the  Kid"  had  many 
noble  traits.  In  White  Oaks,  during  the 
winter  of  1881,  the  writer  talked  with  a 
man  who  actually  shed  tears  in  telling 


"BILLY  THE  KID"  141 

of  how  he  lay  almost  at  the  point  of 
death,  with  smallpox,  in  an  old  aban- 
doned shack  in  Fort  Sumner,  when  the 
"Kid"  found  him.  A  good  supply  of 
money  was  given  by  the  "Kid,"  and  a 
wagon  and  team  hired  to  haul  him  to 
Las  Vegas,  where  medical  attention 
could  be  secured. 

Since  the  killing  of  the  "Kid,"  Kip 
McKinney  has  died  with  his  boots  off, 
while  Pat  Garrett  died  with  them  on, 
being  shot  and  killed  on  the  road  be- 
tween Tularosa  and  Las  Cruces,  New 
Mexico.  Hence  the  only  man  now  living 
who  saw  the  curtain  go  down  on  the  last 
act  of  "Billy  the  Kid's"  eventful  life, 
is  John  W.  Poe,  at  the  present  writing 
a  wealthy  banker  in  the  beautiful  little 
city  of  Roswell,  New  Mexico.  He  has 
served  one  term  as  sheriff  of  Lincoln 
County,  and  has  helped  to  change  that 
blood-spattered  county  from  an  outlaw's 


142  "BILLY  THE  KID" 

paradise,  to  a  land  of  happy,  peaceful 
homes. 

Peace  to  William  H.  Bonney's  ashes, 
is  the  author's  prayer. 

THE  END. 


A  Lone  Star  Cowboy 

Being  the  recollections  of  fifty  years 
spent  in  the  saddle,  as  cowboy  and  New 
Mexico  Ranger,  on  nearly  every  cow-trail 
in  the  wooly  old  west,  when  the  cow- 
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room  to  come  and  go,  before  the  "hoe- 
man"  and  wire  fences  cut  off  the  trails. 

Fine  cloth  binding,  300  pages,  with 
fourteen  illustrations.  Price  postaid, 
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A  Cowboy  Detective 

Being  the  twenty-two  years  experience 
with  Pinker-ton's  National  Detective 
Agency,  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States, 
British  Columbia,  Alaska  and  Old  Mexico. 

Fine  cloth  binding  525  pages  and  22  il- 
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Tho  Song  Companion  of  A 
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A  booklet  of  old  favorite  cow-camp 
songs.  Price  postpaid,  35  cents. 

Address  the  author: 
CHAS.  A.  SIRINGO, 
P.  O.  Box  322, 
Santa  Fe,  N.  M. 


PAT   GARRETT 

The  fearless  sheriff  of  Lincoln  County,  New  Mexi- 
ico,  who  killed  ''Billy  the  Kid."  They  had  met  by 
accident  in  a  dark  room,  which  meant  that  one,  or 
both,  had  to  die  quick. 


